


What Time Forgot

by ThePurpleFrog



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, I use they pronouns for Chihiro, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Minor Character Death, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-09-08 08:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 47,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8837023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePurpleFrog/pseuds/ThePurpleFrog
Summary: Ten years after the worst, most despair-inducing incident, the world is still in chaos. Mondo Oowada has been living day by day, focusing only on survival. One day, he is given the chance to go back and fix everything. The problem is, he has no idea where to start. Who ended the world? Who is responsible for the tragedies and murders surrounding Hope's Peak? And what does it all have to do with the murder of his old classmate, Kiyotaka Ishimaru?An AU in which the mutual killing game of class 78 never happened. Expect spoilers for dr, sdr2 and dr3. Tags to be added.





	1. Chapter 1

At twenty-six years old, Mondo Oowada had done nothing with his life. Not that he could bring himself to give a damn. It wasn’t like he could change anything.

Nearly ten years ago, the world as he had known it had ended. Most people would call it an apocalypse. Others, however, just called it Despair. A group of people who called themselves the Super High School Level Despairs had killed the world: starting riots, causing mass destruction, torturing and killing millions of people. And the reason behind it all? The reason why they had committed such atrocities? For the sake of despair. To cause people to suffer, and hurt. That was it.

It made Mondo angry, of course, but what could he really do about it? He was just one guy. And ever since the world had fallen into despair, several thousand people followed suit and joined the despairs, seeing that there is nothing to fix so they might as well break more. It reached a point where no one really knew who had started all this; at least, Mondo didn’t. He had heard rumors that it all originated at Hope’s Peak, that after a string of murders had occurred there, several upperclassmen had decided to destroy the world. Mondo could believe that, at least. After all, enough weird shit happened at that school to begin with.

Still, it wasn’t completely hopeless. While a lot of people had fallen into despair and completely given up, others had decided to fight back, even forming an organization called the Future Foundation, which focused on stopping the despairs and turning the world back to normal. While Mondo certainly didn’t call himself a despair, he wasn’t too keen on joining the Future Foundation, either. In a world like this, surviving was top priority. And he couldn’t think of anything dumber than joining an organization openly trying to stop the Ultimate Despair. It was safer to just lay low and not align yourself with any side.

Of course, that didn’t stop people. Quite a few of Mondo’s classmates from Hope’s Peak had joined the Future Foundation. At least, the few he knew were still alive. Kirigiri had joined, and he wasn’t surprised by that choice at all, nor did he worry that she might not make it. Despite his pessimistic attitude towards the Future Foundation, he figured people like her, people who were clever and could talk their way out of a situation, would be able to survive. Someone like him, he couldn’t do much besides punch things and drive a motorcycle would likely be of no use there. There’d be more use for people like her. People who were smart, and talented… people like Chihiro Fujisaki.

There was only one reason why Mondo sort of aligned himself with the Future Foundation, and that was due to his long time friendship with Chihiro Fujisaki. Chihiro had been quick to join the Future Foundation, and their contributions to the organization were incredibly helpful. However, Mondo couldn’t help but worry about them, and often hung around their lab, bringing them lunch and other supplies every once in awhile, helping them with whatever invention they were working on, should they ask... That, and Mondo didn’t really have any other friends he knew of that were still alive. And while self-preservation was his main goal, he certainly didn’t like being alone. Thankfully, Chihiro didn’t seem to mind his presence; in fact, they seemed to enjoy his company greatly and never turned him away. Maybe it was because they were nice, or maybe it was because they knew that their lab, built in a hidden location by the Future Foundation’s headquarters, was one of the safest places around. Mondo didn’t know, but he was thankful regardless.

Even after a decade, Chihiro hadn’t changed all that much. They were still very small for their age, and unfortunately, Chihiro’s dream of becoming physically strong was cut short when the apocalypse began. However, what strength Chihiro lacked physically they made up for in intelligence. Chihiro dedicated themselves to their work, creating all sorts of technology that helped the Future Foundation in their pursuits. They helped create security systems, technology to keep in communication with the lack of normal power and wi-fi, and they helped rebuild generators and computers used often by the organization. Chihiro’s contributions were indisputable, and they were proud of every single one. While this world had become a wreck, Mondo was at least happy that Chihiro seemed to find more pride and confidence in it.

Mondo sped through the damaged streets on his bike, towards where he knew Chihiro’s lab was hidden. If there was one thing his so-called “talent” had been any good for, it was staying alive. Sure, his old bike had been destroyed during the first wave of riots years ago, but it wasn’t hard to come across another bike in the debris that lay scattered just about everywhere. And once he was on a bike, he was a quick and hard to hit.

Maybe it was selfish of him, but Mondo couldn’t help but be a little jealous of Chihiro. If there was one thing that had remained the same about him since high school, it was the inability to see any merit in his talent. Nearly a decade ago, he had been shocked to find out he was scouted to enter Hope’s Peak Academy. Since when was being the head of a biker gang a talent? He could ride a bike. He could commit petty crimes. That was about it. What good would that do in the real world, after high school? Not that he ever really got to find out, seeing how the world as he knew it came to an end before graduation. Despite that, Mondo still felt just as useless as he had as teenager, if not even more so. What exactly was he doing in this world, other than surviving? Sure, he was friendly enough with the Future Foundation, helped out survivors whenever he found them and was always there to help Chihiro with building things when they needed it, but none of that was significant in the slightest. But what could he do to change that? Sure, he could join the Future Foundation. But then what? He wasn’t a naturally talented genius like Kirigiri or Chihiro. What more could he do beside hand Chihiro a screwdriver when they needed it?

He tried not to dwell on it as he sped down the remains of a highway. He was alive, and that was what counted. If you were alive, it always meant you could live to do something more. If you were alive, he figured, you could do just about anything.

Mondo finally reached his destination and parked his bike in front of it. Chihiro’s lab was hidden beneath an old, derelict building. To any onlooker, it was just another small home that had fallen into ruin after the apocalypse began. Even if one were to go inside, all they would find is broken furniture and discarded junk. At least, that’s what it looked like if you didn’t know where to look. Underneath the small table in what used to be the living room was a button. If one pressed it, a slanted bookshelf on the opposing wall would slide open, revealing a hidden path to the basement.

Only today, the bookcase was already moved. Mondo immediately felt his blood run cold at the sight of it. Chihiro was always careful. Chihiro always checked the locks twice before doing anything when they arrived at their lab, and checked them frequently throughout the day. There’s no way they would carelessly leave the door open.

Meaning that someone else must have done this.

Mondo pulled his knife out of his pocket, ready to attack should he need to. He hated using it against people, but nowadays there wasn’t much choice, was there? He slowly descended down the staircase. In his younger years he would’ve rushed down it in an instant, but if life in this despair-induced world had taught him anything, it was caution.

There was another locked door that separated him from the lab. It had a number pad, and only the correct combination would open it. One missed attempt would sound off an alarm. Two missed attempts would spray knock out gas into the small hallway. Mondo found the little pin pad completely destroyed, and the door looked as if it had been smashed off his hinges. Mondo could feel his heart begin to race in his chest; someone really had broken in.

He carefully entered the cluttered lab. It was even messier than the last time he had seen it. The desks were covered in blueprints, wires and all sorts of dismantled machinery, likely taken apart for parts by Chihiro. But along with that, he found shattered glass, broken monitors, and a few of the chairs inside had been overturned. Not only that, but the place was unusually dim; the only light source coming from the few working monitors still in the room.

Mondo noticed splattered blood on the ground beneath his feet. He quickly followed the trail of blood until, towards the back of the room, he found them. Chihiro was slumped up against the back wall, a knife stuck firmly in their stomach.

“Chihiro!” Mondo exclaimed. He dropped all caution to the side, and quickly rushed over to his friend. The knife had pierced them deeply, staining their white blouse a deep crimson. “N-no! Shit, I-”

“M…Mondo…?” Chihiro asked, their voice barely above a whisper.

“Holy shit.” Mondo gasped. “You’re still here. Good. Okay, just… just gimme a second, I’ll bandage this up, okay?” Mondo gripped the edge of his coat, ready to tear it into makeshift bandages. It wasn’t like it was the first time he had had to do this. Before he could do anything, however, Chihiro weakly reached their hand out, gently placing it on his.

“Don’t… waste your time…”

“What the hell do you mean?!” Mondo exclaimed. “Look, I have to get ya out of here, I’ll get ya to a hospital, and-”

“What hospital?”

“Sh-shut up!! I’ll find somethin’, okay?”

“Mondo… _please_.” Chihiro begged. “There’s not enough time... just listen to me.”

Mondo desperately wanted to ignore them, to take them someplace safe and fix them up… but even Mondo knew that they were nowhere near any clean, safe medical facility. And there was no way he could safely carry a bleeding, dying Chihiro on his bike that distance. There was just no way. The least he could do was listen to their last request.

“…Fine.” He finally said, trying his best to hold back the tears. “Fine.”

“I think the despairs heard… what I was doing…” Chihiro muttered. “But… they didn’t get my greatest invention…”

They rolled up their sleeve, revealing a pink watch on their wrist.

“Take it… please…”

Mondo didn’t ask questions, and simply did as told, sliding the wrist off of Chihiro’s skinny wrist.

“Please…” Chihiro muttered, pulling a slip of paper out of their pocket, not seeming to notice all the blood they were getting on it. They weakly held their arm out to Mondo once more. “Please… please fix everything… in my place. You can save me… you can save everyone! Please, promise me you’ll do it. I know you can…!”

“Chihiro, what’re you talking about? W-what is this?”

But Chihiro couldn’t answer. Their eyes, while still open, had drained of all life. And their arm fell limp, the piece of paper still firmly in their grasp.

“Chihiro?”

There was no response.

“H-hey, Chihiro…!”

But Chihiro didn’t stir. They were gone.

Mondo reached forward, and shut Chihiro’s eyes. And with that, he finally let the tears he was holding back out. He had seen many people die over the past decade. Past gang members, friends, family… Quite frankly, he had grown numb to it. At this point, death was simply another part of life. But… he had just been so sure that Chihiro would make it through this. They were so smart, so cunning, so talented… So why were they lying on the floor before him, dead? Why was someone as great as Chihiro gone when someone like him got to live on?

“Damn it…” He cursed. “Damn it!!” He clenched his hand into a fist, and it was only then he remembered that he was still holding onto the watch Chihiro had given him. He took a good look at it, trying to figure out what made it so important. It looked like a normal watch to him. It was pink, with a little pink and white bunny in the center. It had a digital clock instead of one with hands. What was unusual, however, was that it didn’t tell the time, but the date. Apparently, today was May 21st. Huh. He had lost count of the dates years ago. Clearly, there was more to this watch than met the eye. Even while bleeding out, he doubted Chihiro would hand him useless garbage that earnestly. He just needed to figure out what it did.

Which was probably written on the paper still in Chihiro’s hand. He didn’t want to touch them or disturb them any further… but Chihiro had been so desperate. He had no choice. He crawled closer to their corpse, and gently unfurled their hand, pulling the blood stained paper out of it. Before he looked at it, he decided to pull the knife out of their abdomen, and then covered their corpse with his jacket. They deserved at least that respect.

He finally unfolded the piece of paper, and written on it was one simple statement:

_January 6 th, 20XX. _

Mondo reread the note a few times, trying to figure out what it meant. He didn’t recognize the significance of the date itself, but the year was familiar to him. It was ten years ago, sometime, he assumed, during the school year just after winter break.

The school year that would be cut short due to the end of the world.

Mondo remembered that year perfectly. It had been a fun school year at Hope’s Peak, all things considered. He had been worried that it would be incredibly challenging due to its reputation as a school for the elite, but it had been quite the opposite. They didn’t do that much actual learning in class. There was a lot of screwing around, and Mondo remembered that he had had fun hanging out with Chihiro and pulling pranks with Leon and Hagakure. But things weren’t as happy as they had seemed. The school did a great job of hiding it, but people started going missing and dying, and then soon enough, the student council had been manipulated into killing one another, and the Reserve Course began to riot, and then…

Then the world had ended.

Mondo wished he knew where it had all started. There was no way it hadn’t started in the school somehow, but with all the former students that eventually gave in to despair it was impossible to tell just who- or what- had started it. If only he had been paying attention to the school around him instead of messing around with his friends, maybe he could’ve done something. If only he had done something different, then maybe…

Wait.

He glanced at the watch Chihiro had given him as a thought crossed his mind. This was Chihiro’s “greatest invention”, something so important that it had been worth someone killing them for. And it was just a watch. A watch that only told the date. So, could it really be…?

“A time machine?” Mondo asked out loud, looking at the small pink watch. “No way…” With this… he could do anything. Everything that had happened could really be fixed again, couldn’t it? All the people who had unfairly lost their lives, all his classmates, all his friends… Chihiro… they could all be safe and happy, like they should be. The note in his hand was vague, but he was pretty sure why Chihiro wrote it down. All of the events that had lead up to the tragedy that had killed the world had occurred after the date written down, and if he could just nip it in the bud, he might be able to stop all the misfortune from happening.

Hopefully.

He looked down at Chihiro nervously, still feeling as if they might get up at any second and apologize for this whole misunderstanding. Yes, it should really be Chihiro doing all of this. Chihiro was smart, they’d be able to figure out how to save everyone. If only… if only Mondo had come here sooner, and stopped whomever from killing them, everything could go as it should. For a moment, he thought about entering today’s date, hoping it would get him here an hour or two earlier so he could save them. But Chihiro had told him to promise, To promise to do everything in their place. And Mondo never turned his back on a promise, ever.

He put the watch around his wrist. It fit a little snugly, but he didn’t have the nerve to complain about it. With shaky hands, he typed out the date written on the paper. He glanced up at Chihiro’s covered corpse one last time, with his hand hovering over the watch’s button.

“I won’t let you down.” He said firmly. And with that, he pressed the button and was soon enveloped in a bright light.

When the light faded, he found himself face down on a hard, but carpeted ground. With a groan, he sat up, taking in his surroundings.

He was in his dorm room at Hope’s Peak Academy. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes. There was the old, white bed... he had always found it too hard, but after spending years without one, it was a blessing. His old gang jacket was hung up on the wall, and, as usual, his room was trashed. Even more so than usual, he noticed. There was a stack of unfolded clothes on his bed, as well as one notebook that was falling apart with a chewed-on pencil hooked to its metal rings.

“No way…” Mondo muttered, getting to his feet. “No way..!” He explored his room; happy to see everything just the way it was before things went downhill. He didn’t realize how much he would miss all this normal junk it such a short time, but now that normality was before his eyes, he almost felt like crying. He walked towards the window and pulled the curtains aside, revealing the bright, albeit snowy, sky outside. Hope’s Peak Academy was covered in a fresh layer of snow, and it was still coming down. He hated the cold, but he grinned at the sight of it anyways. After all, he hadn’t seen such a peaceful world in such a long time. He placed his hand on the cool glass, and it was only then he noticed the watch, tightly fastened around his wrist. He drew his hand back and sighed. He was here for a reason. He couldn’t revel in the joys of normality. At least, not yet. He had a killer to find and an apocalypse to prevent. He just needed to figure out where to start.

Today was January 6th, the first day of school after the winter break. This would give him a couple months to stop everything. He grimaced. All things considered, that wasn’t a lot of time. Especially considering that he didn’t know when or where the chain of events would even begin. But, he supposed, glancing at the watch once more, with this on his wrist, he had all the time in the world, didn’t he? Still, he would like to do this in one go, if he could. He headed towards the door, but hesitated. How would he explain his existence here, as a twenty six year old man, when his sixteen year old self was still wandering around somewhere? He wasn’t sure. Maybe if he found his younger self he could explain what was going on? He could be hot headed and impulsive, but hopefully he’d understand. But, he might as well get cleaned up first. Mondo headed to the bathroom and flipped the lights on.

He nearly screamed at the sight of his own reflection.

Looking back at him was his young, sixteen year old face, complete with eyeliner, the pompadour and everything.

“No way…” Mondo muttered, reaching up and touching his own face. He was… young again? Did this mean that there were no copies of him running around? Did this mean that only his memories traveled back with him? How was that even possible? Mondo was beginning to get a headache just thinking about it. He decided to ignore it for now. Maybe one day, he’d have Chihiro explain it to him.

“Chihiro!” Mondo exclaimed.

He rushed to the door, and left his dorm. The hallway was mostly empty, though he saw a few students walking by. Asahina and Sakura were walking together, seemingly caught up in a pleasant conversation. He hadn’t seen the two of them in years. From what he had heard, Asahina had joined the Future Foundation, though she was in a different branch than Chihiro, so he rarely saw her. And Sakura… well, during the first few years of rioting, she had apparently died, protecting Asahina and some of her other classmates to her last breath. Chihiro told him that Asahina was devastated, and that had truly been the push for her to join the Future Foundation. He was happy to see the two of them so content, and he seriously hoped that he’d be able to keep them that way. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen with him just staring.

“Oy, Asahina!” Mondo said, running towards them. He paused at the sound of his own voice. Had his voice really changed so much in the past ten years? He ignored it, seeing how the two girls were staring at him.

“Good morning, Oowada.” Sakura said.

“Yeah, morning!” Asahina added. “How was your break?”

“My what? Oh… right.” Mondo replied nervously. “I-I mean, good. It was great. Fantastic. Have you seen Chihiro anywhere?”

“I think I saw them heading towards the cafeteria.” Asahina said.

“Have you had breakfast yet, Oowada? We could-”

“Maybe later,” Mondo interrupted, waving them goodbye, “thanks for telling me!”

He rushed down the oh-so familiar hallway, towards the cafeteria. He didn’t know where exactly to start with this, but he knew finding Chihiro would likely help. He was sure with their advice, he would be able to fix everything in no time. That, and he just wanted to see them again, and know they were alive.

“Hey!!” A loud voice shouted, cutting off Mondo’s train of thought. “Oowada-kun, stop right there!”

Mondo felt something grab ahold of his wrist, and he stopped running. He turned around irritably.

“I’m in a hurry, okay? I need-”

“You need what, Oowada-kun?” Ishimaru asked sternly, glaring up at him. “Do you need me to write you up on the first day of class? …Well?”

Normally, Mondo would say something snarky back, or even just shake his hand out of his grip and go on his way, but today he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He was just too surprised to see this particular classmate staring back at him.

This was Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Super High School Level Hall Monitor, a loudmouth, a constant crybaby, a pain in the ass and…

The first victim in the series of murders and tragedies that would lead to the downfall of Hope’s Peak Academy, and humanity as they knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Mondo Oowada could have been friends, but they weren’t.

It wasn’t that Mondo hated the kid. He just found him irritating. And it wasn’t like he was alone in that belief. From what he could tell, no one in class 78 seemed to care much for him. Of course he had a few acquaintances. Naegi was nice to most everyone he encountered, same with Sayaka and of course Chihiro. But from what he remembered, Ishimaru was pretty solitary. He usually sat alone during meals and most all his free time he spent in the library or his dorm, studying away. That being said, he never failed to stand out. Shouting seemed to be his inside voice. He always made it his business that everyone was at class on time and that no one ran in the halls. He tended to scold his classmates more than any of the teachers ever did. And of course, he consistently got top marks on all exams, rivaling even Kirigiri and Chihiro in intelligence.

Yes, Mondo remembered him as irritating. But that irritation had just made him feel all the more awful when Ishimaru had turned up dead.

Mondo could remember that day perfectly. It was a Monday, the eighteenth of January, and though the classroom was filled with its normal chatter, it seemed quiet. Without Ishimaru’s constant yelling, telling the class good morning, asking if they all did their homework, usually scolding Mondo or Leon for messing around with something, it might as well have been silent. He remembered Leon joking with him, wondering what Ishimaru’s face would look like when he showed up to class late. Mondo had laughed along with him, agreeing that that would be hilarious. But Ishimaru never showed up. Soon enough, their homeroom teacher had arrived, looking rather grim. She told the class that there had been an accident; that their classmate, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, had fallen down the stairs leading to the dormitories sometime the night before, and the fall had broken his neck.

Everyone in the class had been shocked, of course. While no one seemed to particularly like Ishimaru, none of them seemed to want him dead, either. But most unpleasant of all… everyone knew that their teacher was lying. She had said that Ishimaru slipped down the stairs, likely due to lack of caution and running down them. But everyone and their mother knew that nothing bothered Ishimaru more than running in the halls. There was no way a student as cautious and rule-abiding as Ishimaru would have died from running down the stairs. As the day pressed on, the hushed conversations between students quickly went from quiet mourning to worried whispers about what else the school could possibly be hiding from them. Soon enough, Ishimaru’s death was essentially forgotten, especially after the deaths of the student council and the riots from the Reserve Course.

Now that he was looking down at Ishimaru, he understood why Chihiro had chosen such an early date. When they had said they wanted to save everyone, they had meant _everyone_ , including Ishimaru. Mondo felt like an asshole. If Chihiro hadn’t written down this date, he probably wouldn’t have even thought to save him. That’s how insignificant Ishimaru's life- and his death- had been in the grand scheme of things.

He had forgotten all about him. 

“Well?” Ishimaru asked. “Do you have anything to say for yourself, Oowada-kun?”

“…Yeah.” Mondo finally said. “I’m sorry about that. Won’t happen again.”

“Ah…” Ishimaru seemed taken aback for a moment before bursting into a huge grin. “Well, I’m glad to see you’ve learned your lesson!”

Running in the hall was absolutely not what Mondo was apologizing for, but it was easier to let it go than to attempt to explain what he was really here for.

“Well, don’t let me stop you.” Ishimaru said, finally letting go of Mondo’s wrist. “Please proceed to wherever you’re going- but with caution!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure… say, have you had anything to eat yet?” Mondo asked. “I was headin’ to the cafeteria. Do you… wanna come with me?”

“No thanks, Oowada-kun! I’ve already eaten. I’m just heading to the library for some quick studying before class.”

“Oh. Well, uh… did ya want me to join you?”

“No… that’s quite all right.” Even the ever-oblivious Ishimaru was beginning to look confused at Mondo’s persistence. “It’s important to have breakfast! Otherwise you won’t be able to focus in class!”

Mondo wanted to say more, but Ishimaru was already turning to go.

“Yeah.” Mondo muttered. “See ya.” Ishimaru didn’t seem to hear him and soon went in the opposite direction. Mondo sighed.

This was going to be tough.

Ishimaru was the first victim in the string of tragedies, and his death had been shrouded in mystery. Nobody knew why Ishimaru had been out so late at night. No one knew how he had actually died. And while it wouldn’t completely solve the mystery, Mondo figured a lot of that was due to no one knowing a damn thing about him. He figured he might learn a thing or two if he got closer to Ishimaru. But that was going to be much harder than it looked, considering just how awkward their first interaction had been. Mondo finally turned around and headed to the cafeteria. Maybe he’d think of something over breakfast. Ishimaru was right; it was hard to focus when he was so hungry.

When he got to the cafeteria the first thing he noticed was Chihiro seated at one of the tables, typing away at their personal laptop while eating breakfast. They noticed Mondo walking in and waved to him meekly. Mondo immediately forgot what he had just told Ishimaru and ran across the room towards their table.

“Chihrio!!” Mondo exclaimed, slinging his arm around their shoulders. “I’m so happy to see ya!!”

“M-me too, Mondo!!” Chihiro replied, clearly overwhelmed and confused by his enthusiasm. He could feel Fukawa’s judgmental glare on him from across the room, but he decided he didn’t care. He was just so happy to see Chihiro alive and safe.

For now.

“How was your break, Mondo?” Chihiro asked once he finally let go of them.

“It was… er, it was all right.” Mondo finally replied. “It felt like I’ve been gone for years.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

The two of them engaged in pleasant conversation as they ate breakfast together, but if Mondo was honest, he wasn’t really paying attention to the trip to the mountains Chihiro’s dad had taken them on. All he could think about was what had happened to Chihiro in the present, and how desperately he wished to prevent it. The urge to tell Chihiro everything that was going on right on the spot was strong, but he decided against it for now. Hope’s Peak Academy was filled to the brim with corruption, secrets, and potential future murderers. He couldn’t tell them what was going on just in case the killer was in earshot. It would be best if he did this by himself. Besides, he wasn’t sure just how he’d explain what was going on in a way that sounded believable, either.

“Say, Chihiro?” Mondo asked when there was finally a lull in the conversation. “Do ya know anything about Ishimaru?”

“Oh… him?” Chihiro smiled, but clearly looked hesitant. “W-well, he’s pretty nice, once you get past all the shouting. And he’s really smart, I think, with how good his grades are, and-”

“Yeah, I know all that.” Mondo interrupted. “I was just wondering if ya knew anything else like… if he has any friends or what he does on his free time, or…”

“…Why?”

“I dunno! I just thought, uh…” Somehow Mondo knew that saying he needed to keep an eye on Ishimaru because he was going to get murdered in about two weeks wouldn’t sound very believable. “I just thought I’d try being his friend or something. He’s always by himself, so…”

“Mondo…” Much to his surprise, Chihiro grinned. “That’s really sweet of you! But, I’m afraid I still don’t know much about him. Sorry…”

“Nah, it’s cool, don’t worry about it-”

“But!” Chihiro interjected. “He always stays late after class to clean up things. Maybe you could talk to him then?”

“Of course! You’re a genius, Chihiro!” Mondo reached forward and ruffled their hair, which caused them to laugh. It was refreshing; he couldn’t remember the last time he had heard Chihiro laugh. There simply wasn’t a lot to laugh about in present.

Mondo went to class, if one could even call it that. When they said that going to Hope’s Peak meant your future was already set in stone, they had meant it, if class was any indication. Mondo never learned anything in his classes at Hope’s Peak. Sure, they had a basic class structure; they went to gym and had lessons throughout the day, but none of it ever really mattered. There was one basic exam at the end of each semester and then one big exam where students were to showcase their talents to judges. That was really it. So most class periods were spent full of chatter and goofing off, with very little actual learning. Mondo was surprised Ishimaru found anything to study for considering how little anyone did in this school. Realistically, the lack of actual education should have been the first red flag that there was more to Hope’s Peak than what met the eye, but Mondo didn’t think into it the first time he was here. He was just thankful he didn’t have to do too much math.

“Excuse me, everyone?” Their teacher asked, just as the bell ending the day rang. “As you all know, it has snowed quite substantially this year. The faculty wants all of the classes to help out shoveling the main paths around campus. Do I have any volunteers to help out?”

Ishimaru’s hand immediately shot up.

“Thank you, Ishimaru-kun. Do I have any other volunteers?” The room was silent. Clearly, no one really wanted to do this. It was cold outside, and most everyone had something they’d rather be doing than shoveling snow. Mondo could feel Chihiro’s gaze on him from their desk across the room and finally, with a sigh, Mondo raised his hand.

“Fine.” He said. “I’ll help out too.”

“Oh.” Based on the perplexed look on her face, he was likely one of the last people she had expected to volunteer. She soon smiled anyways. “Well, thank you, Oowada-kun!”

Mondo and Ishimaru soon headed outside to work on shoveling a few of the many paths around the school. Mondo had forgotten just how exhausting shoveling snow was. After all, he hadn't needed to do it in ages. Maybe there were some upsides to the apocalypse?

No, no, he couldn't think like that.

“Oy, are we about done?” Mondo asked.

“Not quite yet, Oowada-kun!” Ishimaru responded, still shoveling away furiously. “We have to make sure all of the paths we were assigned to are completely clear!”

“But we’ve been doing this for hours!”

“According to my watch, it has only been forty-eight minutes.” Ishimaru replied. Mondo just groaned. “Are you already _that_ tired?”

“What?” Mondo asked. He couldn’t help but notice the condescending tone in Ishimaru’s voice. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re far too quick to complain.” Ishimaru replied. “A true man would do his work quickly and without complaint!”

“Ah?” Mondo replied, slamming his shovel into the snow. “And what the hell do you know about bein’ a true man?”

“More than you do.” Ishimaru replied. “But, we don’t have time to bicker right now. We have work to do. And it will go by far quicker if we both pull our weight.”

And with that, Ishimaru got back to work. Mondo however, stood still, simply glaring at Ishimaru while he worked away. Now he was really beginning to remember why he had never bothered to befriend Ishimaru. He was too pretentious! He was too caught up in his own shitty rules to be likable! Mondo knew he had to try, but this was turning out to be more trouble than he had anticipated.

“Well, Oowada-kun?” Ishimaru snapped. “Are you going to help out?”

That was it. Mondo wasn’t sure if Ishimaru intended it, but the way he talked just sounded so condescending sometimes. Mondo scooped an incredibly large load of snow into his shovel and flung it at Ishimaru. It hit Ishimaru’s back and he fell to his knees with a startled grunt. Mondo just burst into laughter.

“Oowada-kun, you...!” Ishimaru snapped, quickly getting to his feet. He packed some snow into his own hands.

“Oh, what’s this?” Mondo taunted. “Is the goody-two-shoes hall monitor gonna throw a snowball at me? Wouldn’t that be against the rules?”

“That…” Ishimaru glared before finally dropping the snowball. “That’s true. And I refuse to stoop to your level. Now, if you’ll-”

“What? Get back to work?” Mondo asked. He pointed to the clear sidewalk before him with his shovel. “I just finished it. Happy now?”

“…Fine.” Ishimaru replied, brushing some of the snow off his coat. “I suppose we were told just to do the north end of the school. Let’s go put our shovels away.”

“Good. It’s cold as hell out here.”

Ishimaru didn’t say anything. He just shivered and continued walking towards the shed. The two of them put their shovels away in the shed, but once they turned around they found the door behind them shut and locked.

“What the hell?” Mondo asked, shaking the doorknob.

“Is it locked?” Ishimaru asked.

“’Course it’s locked. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be stuck here messing with it!”

“Did you leave the keys in the door?”

“Of course not! I…” He stuck his hands in his pockets, but didn’t feel the keys in either of them. “Okay, maybe I did, but I didn’t leave it locked!”

“That’s because Kuwata-kun locked it.”

“Wh-” When Mondo turned around, he noticed Ishimaru pointing out the small window in the shed. Outside, Leon and Hagakure were taking a few steps away from the shed, laughing mischievously as they glanced back at it.

“HEY!!” Mondo shouted, pounding his fist against the glass. “Leon!! When I get out of here, you’re dead, ya hear me?!”

Leon and Hagakure seemed to have heard him and the two of them broke into a sprint.

“Well?” Ishimaru finally asked.

“Well, what?” Mondo responded.

“They were our only way out, and you scared them away. So now what?”

“I’ll think of something.” Mondo walked back towards the door and immediately began kicking it.

“Hey!” Ishimaru exclaimed. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Finding a way out!”

“Stop it!” Ishimaru grabbed ahold of Mondo’s arm and roughly pulled him back. “I’m not going to let you damage school property!”

Mondo turned around and glared at Ishimaru and for a second, the urge to shove him crossed his mind. But then he noticed just how cold Ishimaru looked. His clothes were a little wet from when Mondo had tossed the snow at him earlier, and the shed wasn’t much warmer than it was outside. Tossing the snow at him had already been his revenge; he didn’t need to do anymore.

“Fine.” Mondo finally muttered. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and texted Chihiro.

_> chihiro can you come to the shed outside? Ishimaru & I got locked in_

_> How?_

_> leon _

_> I see._

“What are you doing?” Ishimaru asked.

“Shut up for a sec.” Mondo responded.

_> I’ll get there as soon as I can! I’m on the other side of the school right now but I’ll hurry! _

_> cool thanks_

“Well?”

“Chihiro’s on their way. It’ll be a second though.” Mondo said. He strolled over towards a fairly clear area of the shed and sat down, leaning against the wall. Ishimaru joined him, but sat quite a few feet away.

“I’m disappointed in you.” Ishimaru said, after a brief pause.

“For what?!” Mondo snapped.

“This morning I had honestly thought you learned your lesson about being reckless! But I suppose I was wrong.”

“Is that so?” Mondo scoffed. “Well sorry to disappoint ya, Mr. Honor Student, but not everyone can be perfect like you.“

“I’m not perfect.” Ishimaru replied curtly. “Perfection isn’t something one inherently has. You have to work for it each and every day.”

“Aw, save your lectures for someone else, will ya? It’s easy to preach workin’ hard and nobody’s perfect and all that shit when everything comes easy to you and ya don’t have any problems.”

“You really think I don’t have any problems?” Ishimaru asked. He finally turned to look at Mondo, and he looked angrier than he did when he caught Mondo running or when he had thrown snow at him. “You really think everything comes to me easily?”

“Yeah.” Mondo replied, though Ishimaru’s solemn tone of voice left him curious. “I mean, you’re always top of the class when we have tests, and-”

“That’s because I work hard on them! This doesn’t come easily at all!” Ishimaru exclaimed. “But if you work hard enough, you can achieve anything! Being a genius doesn’t mean a thing; it’s hard work that will get you through anything!”

“Jeez…” Mondo said, more confused than angry now. “You’re the only person I know who sees genius as an insult.”

“That’s because it is.” Ishimaru replied. “Being called a genius implies that you didn’t do any actual work. You might as well just call someone lazy.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Have…” Ishimaru hesitated, before finally continuing. “Have you heard of Toranosuke Ishimaru?”

“Uh…” Mondo wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. “No. Why?”

“He was my grandfather. And he was also the Prime Minister of Japan.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes.” Ishimaru nodded. “Well, for a short period of time, that is.”

“Well… that’s neat.” Mondo replied. “I had no idea.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Ishimaru said bitterly. “The less people that know about his shameful downfall, the better.”

“Wait, what?”

“My grandfather was a genius, in every sense of the word. He used to go here, you know? And after graduation, he got everything he wanted and never once knew failure. He even became Prime Minister without the slightest bit of effort. But a life like that made him self-centered and arrogant. It was no wonder that he became corrupted, and a scandal soon forced him out of office. The debt he left our family in still affects us, even after his passing.”

Ishimaru looked at Mondo, as if expecting him to comment on his story. But Mondo didn’t respond. He had no idea what to even say to a story like that and just stared.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” Ishimaru continued. “I have learned the hard way that being a genius will only lead to despair. I refuse to be associated with someone like that. Hard work and effort are the only things that will bring you success! And I will work as hard as I can to put the Ishimaru name back in a good light! I swear on it!”

Mondo didn’t say anything. He certainly wasn’t mad anymore, and hearing Ishimaru’s story had been interesting, indeed. Over the year he had gone to Hope’s Peak with Ishimaru, he had had no clue as to why he was so driven and so work-oriented. He had thought it was annoying, and he had made fun of him behind his back constantly for it. Now that he was hearing the true reasoning, he began to feel sorry for him.

“How long have you been doing this?” Mondo finally asked.

“I’ve been working towards this goal for as long as I can remember.”

Mondo didn’t doubt that in the slightest. He could easily picture Ishimaru, sitting alone in the library or at home, studying away at any age in his life. Mondo couldn’t imagine himself doing anything like that. He would certainly die of boredom, and of loneliness. He had had someone by him his whole life, whether it was Daiya, his school friends, or Chihiro. Being alone for so long… choosing to be alone for so long… he simply couldn’t picture it for himself.

“Isn’t it lonely?” Mondo asked.

“Not really.” Ishimaru replied. “You can’t miss friends if you never had any to begin with.”

If anyone else had said that, Mondo would’ve assumed they were searching for attention. But not Ishimaru. He could tell that Ishimaru was being completely serious. He had never had a single friend his entire life, had he? Mondo wanted to ignore that comment; that was Ishimaru’s own fault for being a shut in, wasn’t it?

Except it wasn’t.

Ishimaru didn’t actively avoid people. In fact, it seemed like he tried really hard to befriend the rest of his classmates. He always greeted the class with a booming good morning. He always encouraged everyone to participate in school events that no one seemed to care about and tried to join people’s conversations. And, now that he thought about it, Ishimaru didn’t choose to sit alone at lunch. He would sit with people who would slowly migrate away from him.

Mondo felt terrible. Ishimaru had been his classmate… but he hadn't cared. None of them had cared. None of them had tried to talk to him. None of them had tried to be his friend. And once he had died, none of them had really thought about him. No one knew how hard Ishimaru had worked to get where he was. Everyone knew about his annoying desire to work hard, but no one knew why he had that drive. And now that Mondo knew it, it just made the memory- and the foreboding presence – of his death all the more tragic. Ishimaru was going to die in two weeks. And no one was going to care. All his hard work would be for naught, and no one was going to care. He would die, and everything he had done and worked for would be forgotten like dead grass covered in cold, unforgiving snow.

Mondo felt himself begin to tear up. Ishimaru’s fate was crueler than just death, wasn’t it? Not only would he die, but all he had worked for would die and be forgotten along with him, never to be appreciated or recognized.

“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t ya?” Mondo asked, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

“Not really…” Ishimaru replied. “Whatever motivates you is a good thing, I think.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Ishimaru asked, looking confused.

“For being an asshole. And throwing snow on ya.” The more Mondo thought about it, the more he regretted doing it. He may be back as his sixteen-year-old self, but that didn’t mean he should act like it. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

“Why?”

“W-well…” After telling him such a personal story like that, Mondo felt the need to respond with something honest, too. “I lost someone pretty recently.”

“Oh…” Ishimaru replied, sadly. “W-who, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Uh…” Mondo hesitated. He couldn’t say Chihiro; after all, they were doing just fine and well, at least for now. This was ten years ago, wasn’t it? It was about the time he had lost… “My brother, Daiya.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Oowada-kun.”

“It’s… okay.” Mondo replied. And he meant it. Ten years ago, Mondo wasn’t sure if he’d be able to say that, let alone even talk about it. But after ten years of surviving the apocalypse, and doing what he could to keep others safe, he had slowly come to terms with Daiya’s death. In fact, he had been rather okay with it. He’d rather Daiya die in a normal, peaceful world than die in one filled with fear and despair. “He passed the Crazy Diamonds on to me when he died, y’know. That’s why I was… I mean, why I _am_ so dedicated to the gang. I wanna believe he’d be proud of me, but… I dunno.” Mondo hoped that Daiya would be sort of proud of him for surviving no matter what had happened to him. If not, then maybe saving Ishimaru and everyone else who was fated to die would do some good. He wasn’t sure. And it wasn’t like he could ask him.

When he looked up, he realized Ishimaru was weeping.

“Whoa!” Mondo exclaimed, scooting closer to him. “Wh-what happened? Why are you crying?!”

“I had no idea you were such a strong person!” Ishimaru cried.

“…What?”

“I always thought that you were part of a gang just to cause trouble… I never imagined that it was for your brother’s sake!” Ishimaru wiped his eyes, though it did little to stop his tears. “Losing a loved one so close to you must be so difficult… I can’t even imagine what that must be like… and here I thought you were just a rude delinquent! H-how wrong I was about you!”

“Uh…” Mondo certainly hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected Ishimaru to care about his sob story, let alone praise him for it. Ishimaru really was a nice kid, wasn’t he? A little overbearing and loud, but… he had a big heart, and Mondo supposed that was what counted. “I was wrong about you too.” He replied. “Sorry for makin’ assumptions about ya like that.”

“It’s all right.” Ishimaru replied. “I-I think we all do that.”

“Hey, Ishimaru?” Mondo began. He paused when he noticed he was shaking. “Are you okay?”

“I’m f-fine.” Ishimaru responded. “I’m just a little cold.”

That was a lie, and Mondo knew it. Ishimaru had his arms wrapped firmly around himself, in a failed attempt to cease his shivering. He could even hear his teeth chattering. Mondo shrugged his coat off, draping it around Ishimaru’s shoulders.

“Aren’t you c-cold, too?”

“It’s fine.” Mondo replied, crossing his arms. “It’s my fault you’re so cold, anyways.”

“Thank you, Oowada-kun.” Ishimaru said.

“Don’t mention it.”

There was a silence for a moment as Ishimaru pulled the coat tighter around himself in an attempt to warm up.

“You’re a nice person, aren’t you?” Ishimaru asked.

Before Mondo could respond, the door to the shed rattled and finally opened, revealing an out of breath, worried-looking Chihiro.

“Mondo! Ishimaru-kun!” They panted. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, thanks for coming, Chihiro.” Mondo replied. He stood up and held his hand out for Ishimaru, who gladly took it.

“Your hand is freezing.” Ishimaru commented.

“So what?”

“Y-you should really get some gloves!”

“They didn’t do much to keep you warm.”

“Y-yes, but they will help-” He cut himself off with a sneeze.

“Worry about me getting gloves later. We need to get ya warmed up first.”

“Did something happen to Ishimaru-kun?” Chihiro asked.

“I threw snow on him.” Mondo replied.

“Why?”

“’Cause I’m an asshole.”

“L-let’s just get inside,” Ishimaru insisted, “where it’s warm.”

They all seemed to agree on that plan and soon headed inside together.

* * *

One thing Mondo would always miss about Hope’s Peak Academy was the cafeteria and kitchen. It was open until lights out, and they had just about anything one could possibly want to eat for any meal or snack. Mondo certainly missed it when food became tougher to find after the apocalypse. That’s why he would make the best of it now. He was in the kitchen, making tea for himself and Ishimaru while Ishimaru changed out of his wet, freezing clothes. In the mean time, however, Mondo grabbed himself some chips. And a banana. And a cupcake. After all, he was sixteen again.

As soon as the tea was done he brought two steaming cups out to the cafeteria, where he found Ishimaru sitting patiently at one of the tables, an open book on the desk before him. Once he noticed Mondo however, he shut it.

“Thanks, Oowada-kun!” Ishimaru said, as Mondo placed the two cups on the table.

“Yeah, no problem.” Mondo replied. “Ya feeling better now?”

“Absolutely.”

There was silence for a moment, as the two of them enjoyed the tea.

“Oowada-kun?” Ishimaru finally asked.

“Mmmm?” Mondo replied, taking a sip from his cup.

“Why did you decide to shovel snow with me today?” He asked. “You’ve never volunteered for anything before. And I could tell you didn’t like doing it. So… why?”

“Uh…” Mondo hesitated. He had hoped Ishimaru wouldn’t be so perceptive, but, once again, he was wrong. “I dunno. I spent a lot of time alone… over break, I mean. And it got me thinking. I always see ya by yourself, and that sucks. I thought maybe I’d… uh…”

“You want to be my friend?” Ishimaru asked abruptly. Mondo couldn’t help but blush at the wide-eyed, amazed way Ishimaru was looking at him.

“W-well, yeah.” He finally replied.

If he had been asked that this morning, he would’ve said something else. He wanted to get close to Ishimaru so he could prevent his death, for Chihiro- and the world’s- sake. But now that he had actually gotten to learn about him, he realized he was far more than just the annoying honor student. He had suffered, but instead of letting that bring him down, he had used it to fuel his motivation. Yes, Ishimaru was passionate, and Mondo couldn’t help but admire that passion. He wanted Ishimaru to live so he could stop the chain of events that would end the world, of course, but now he realized he wanted Ishimaru to live so he could see him reach his goals, as well. 

Ishimaru looked shocked for a moment, but soon burst into a huge grin.

“Oowada-kun, you have such a big heart!”

“Not really…” Mondo replied, averting his gaze. But he couldn’t help but smile too; Ishimaru’s wide grin was just too infectious. Ishimaru really did look much less intimidating when he smiled. Mondo hoped he’d be able to see it more often. And, he thought, gently touching the watch around his wrist, hopefully he’d be able to see it for years to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God knows how many times ive had to rewrite the mondo and ishimaru becoming friends scene from the manga.... how many one shots have i done where i wrote something similar to it........ too many.........


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the added tags, and if this needs to be tagged as anything else do not hesitate to let me know.

Mondo stared at the bottles of hair spray, hair product, and the worn out comb on his sink and realized, to his horror, that he had no idea how to do his hair anymore.

It was inevitable that he’d have to take a shower and wash his hair sooner or later, and he realized that, after spending years caring more about surviving than maintaining his aesthetic, that he had no idea how to do it anymore. After a few failed attempts to get his hair to cooperate, he gave up and let it stay down. At least it was clean unlike in the future.

It was the ninth of January, which meant Mondo had just over a week to save Ishimaru. And while the two had certainly gotten closer over the past couple of days, it wasn’t enough for him to really figure out why Ishimaru was going to be murdered. If anything, getting closer to him made Mondo more confused as to why anyone would harm Ishimaru. He was such a sweet kid, and the two of them went together like black and white. Now that he had gotten to know Ishimaru, he simply couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt- let alone kill – him. But he couldn’t let his positive view of Ishimaru get in the way. If he did nothing, Ishimaru would be killed in just about a week’s time. And he couldn’t let that happen.

He headed to the cafeteria as usual, but only found Chihiro at their usual table. Being friends with Mondo meant that Chihiro had to be friends with Ishimaru as well. Thankfully, things were going rather smoothly. It could be a little awkward, especially considering how socially inept the two of them could be, but Chihiro seemed to like Ishimaru enough and vice versa, and everyone got along well.

“Oy.” Mondo said, taking a seat beside them. “Good morning, Chihiro.”

“Hi, Mon…” They trailed off when they looked up from their computer and gasped. “What happened to your hair?”

“What, does it really look that bad?”

“N-no, it looks rather nice, actually! It’s just… odd.”

“Yeah, I ran out of hair spray.”

“Probably for the best.” Chihiro muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

Ten years ago, Mondo would’ve gotten angry about that. But as an adult who had survived years without that hairstyle, he had long since realized just how dumb it looked. It was amazing he didn’t realize it sooner with how many people had joked about it.

“Whatever.” Mondo replied, feigning irritation. “Have ya seen Ishimaru around anywhere?”

“Huh?” Chihiro asked. “It’s Saturday, isn’t it?”

“Yeah? So what?”

“Everybody knows Ishimaru always goes home for the weekends.”

“What, seriously!?” Mondo asked. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” Chihiro shrugged. “Maybe his family lives close enough that it’s not a long commute? I’m jealous. It takes three hours by train to get to my home.”

“Shit, did he already leave?”

“Probably about an hour ago.”

Mondo just groaned. He had hoped that the weekend would be more time for him to spend around Ishimaru. While he had little to go off of in preventing his murder, he figured being around him was a good place to start. But… if he was home, he was safe, right?

“It’s not the end of the world, you know.” Chihiro said. “He’ll be back Sunday night.”

“How do ya know all this?”

“Because Sunday night is when the most people get in trouble. People always underestimate when he comes back and then get caught doing something.”

“Right.”

Now that they had mentioned it, Mondo remembered getting caught running in the halls and breaking other rules on Sundays. The weekend was free domain to do whatever he wanted since Ishimaru was gone, and he always forgot by the time he came back. Huh. He had completely forgotten about that over the past decade.

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to have fun without him!” Chihiro insisted. “Speaking of, an upperclassman… um… Nanami-senpai, I-I think it was… hosts a gaming night every Saturday night in the class 77th ‘s classroom! It’s open to underclassmen, too!”

“Have you been goin’ to it?”

“Yes! I’m not very talented at games, but… Nanami-senpai always helps me out. And it’s always a lot of fun, even when I lose! Did you want to join me? I-I mean, if you want?”

“Hmm…” Honestly, the thought of spending time around the 77th class made his stomach turn. He hadn’t known any of them very well during his short time at Hope’s Peak, but he knew quite a bit about them after the apocalypse began. Mostly because, from what he had heard, most all of them were part of the uprising that destroyed the world. The name “Super High School Level Despairs” had to come from somewhere, right? And what better place than from some Super High School Level talented students? While he had heard horror stories about them, he was thankful he hadn’t actually encountered any of them first hand during his decade surviving. They had apparently tortured and killed so many that if he had run into them, he probably wouldn’t be alive right now. But… they were the most likely suspects in Ishimaru’s murder. It had been a few days already and Mondo had nothing else to go off of. Maybe if he inspected the 77th class, he could find some clues?

“Sure. Don’t have anything better to do.”

* * *

 

When Mondo and Chihiro arrived at the classroom, they found it bustling with excitement. It seemed most of class 77 participated in the game night, and there wasn’t a bored expression in sight. At the front of the classroom, a large television had been set up with a game console, and at current time, four upperclassmen were passionately battling one another in a fighting game. A girl with purple hair looked as if she was on the verge of tears as she accidentally walked her character off the stage again. A little girl in a kimono was laughing at her rudely while the other two players, a quiet girl with silver braids and short boy with blonde hair focused on battling one another in focused silence, though it looked like the silver-haired girl was letting the boy win. Most of the other students were gathered around behind them, cheering their classmates on or having conversations of their own. There was also a few tables set up against the back wall, covered in delicious looking snack foods, and a short student in an apron stood beside it proudly. For some reason, a taller student with pink hair seemed to be keeping a suspicious eye on him.

“Welcome, Fujisaki-chan!” A girl with short pink hair waved at Chihiro, a gentle smile on her lips.

“Hello, Nanami-senpai!” Chihiro replied, bowing politely.

“I’m really happy you came back again…” She trailed off, her sleepy eyes gazing up at Mondo. “Hello. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Who might you be?”

“I’m, uh… Mondo. Mondo Oowada.” He replied, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. He had never been good at talking with girls… especially girls he knew were going to get murdered. “I’m one of Chihiro’s classmates.”

“I invited him along, if that’s all right!”

“The more the merrier.” Nanami replied. “And it’s nice to meet you, Mondo-kun. Welcome!”

Chihiro and Nanami soon joined the game; Nanami insisting that she wanted to see how much Chihiro had improved. Much to Mondo’s surprised, none of the students who had been playing initially argued with her. There seemed to be a system in place where four people would play a round, then pass it on to the next four players. No one seemed to argue when their turn ended. Mondo sat on a desk closer to the back of the room so he could observe the whole thing.

This was the last thing he had expected out of class 77, the class notorious for destroying the world. Everyone in here just seemed so friendly. And while Mondo could hear a few of the students bicker here and there, the overall attitude of the room was warm and inviting. It was clear everyone in the class was close to one another, possibly even friendlier than his own class! He had expected a room full of thugs... well, thugs worse than himself. He had expected most of them to be needlessly violent, or evil. But… no. The worst thing he had seen was the girl in the kimono call the purple haired girl a pig when she had lost to her in the video game. No one here seemed outwardly malicious. And no one in here looked like a murderer.

The more he thought about the fate of this school, the more it confused him. Most all of the people in this room were going to become murderers. They were going to become the despairs, bringing misery and pain with them every step of the way. They were going to hurt and kill people, just for the thrill of it all. But… why? What could possibly happen that would turn this lively group of teenagers into some of the most violent killers the world had ever seen?

And what, he wondered, did this all have to do with Ishimaru’s death?

“Oowada-kun?” The voice startled Mondo, who nearly jumped at the sound of it. He turned and found Nanami sitting on the desk beside him, smiling as usual. “Did you want to join in? You’re the only one who hasn’t played yet.”

“Uh… Maybe later.” Mondo replied.

“Do you play video games?”

“Sorta. I played some when I was younger, but it’s been awhile. I’m sure I’m rusty as hell.” By younger, he meant when he was actually a teenager a decade ago, when he would oftentimes forsake homework to play some mindless, violent game in his room, but Nanami didn’t need to know the specifics.

“That’s no problem. A lot of my classmates are new to it as well.” Nanami continued. “Your skill level won’t be a problem at all.”

“Eh… maybe.” Mondo said again. “I’m cool with just watchin’ right now.”

“Oh…” For a moment her smile faltered. “Well, I won’t stop you. But… you know… It really is more fun to play with friends.”

“I know.”

Nanami didn’t reply, instead pulling out a handheld game of her own. Soon enough, she was tapping away at it wildly, though the calm expression on her face never changed.

“You know,” Nanami said, not once looking up from her game, “No one in this class used to talk to one another that much.”

“Oh… really?” Mondo wasn’t sure why she was still talking to him, and the fact that her attention hadn’t shifted made him nervous, but he figured it would be rude to ignore her. 

“Mmm-hmm. No one had much of a reason to talk with one another. In fact, a lot of kids didn’t even show up to class. I typically hung out alone. That is, until Yukizome-sensei insisted that we all attend class and participate together.”

She paused as her character in the game advanced to the next level.

“I didn’t realize just how lonely I was until I befriended my class. And I realized that, if you do nothing and just wait for something to change… nothing will happen.”

Mondo knew she was just saying this to try and convince him to join the game, but her words rang far deeper than she had intended. She was right, and he knew it. He had spent far too many years being idle in the affairs of the world, too desperate to survive to care about making anything right. He wondered now just how much he would’ve been able to help if he had done what Chihiro did and actually attempted to put himself to good use. Would he have been able to save more lives? Would he have been able to help the Future Foundation combat- or maybe even defeat - the despairs?

Regardless, that was more of a reason to try harder now. While he still felt uneasy being in the past like this, he knew what he had to do, and he couldn’t just hope for the best. He may have just stood by and let whatever happen in the future, but he certainly wasn’t going to allow it in the past.

“Thanks, Nanami. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“No problem.” Nanami just nodded, smiling at her game as she advanced to yet another level.

“Oy, just wondering…” Mondo began, “Do you or anyone else in the class know a kid named Ishimaru?”

“Ishimaru?” She repeated the name, drawing out the syllables longer as if that would bring about some form of recollection. “Should I?”

“I dunno. I guess not. He’s in class 78 with me and Chihiro.”

“Then I probably don’t know him. And I don’t think anyone else here would, either.” She shrugged. “We kind of keep to ourselves, I guess.” She seemed to notice Mondo’s disappointment at her response. “I’m sure he’s a wonderful person, though.”

“Yeah,” Mondo replied with a heavy sigh, “he is.”

As the night went on, eventually Mondo did join in the game. And it had been fun, just like Chihiro had said it would be. However, that didn’t ease Mondo’s worried thoughts in the slightest. He had come here, ready to pinpoint a possible culprit in Ishimaru’s murder, but he had come up with absolutely nothing. Class 77 was filled with good kids… good kids who, for whatever reason, would wind up turning evil and destroy the world. But for now… he didn’t doubt that they were good. And now that he had seen them, he seriously doubted that any of them were behind Ishimaru’s death. He believed what Nanami said about none of her classmates knowing him, and Ishimaru was to die a few months before the world ended. He figured that sometime between his death and the world ending was when these kids would fall into despair. Whatever- or whoever- drove them to it must be the one who killed him, right?

That was a start.

But by that logic he was just as far in this investigation as he was when he had begun.

* * *

 

Sunday night couldn’t come any sooner, and Mondo heavily anticipated Ishimaru’s return. Partially because he wanted to watch over him and ensure his safety, and by extension the safety of the world, and partially because, well, he missed him. Ishimaru was a good friend, and while Mondo did enjoy hanging out with Chihiro, there was something special he had with Ishimaru. He hadn’t expected to be that quickly drawn to him, but here he was. He only wished he would’ve tried to know him back in high school. Original sixteen-year-old Mondo really missed out.

Mondo was sitting on a bench near Hope’s Peak’s front gate, waiting patiently for Ishimaru to return. It was getting late; it was already a little past nine. Nighttime officially began at ten, and he’d be in trouble if he was caught out during that time. Then again, would he really be in trouble? From what he could tell, Ishimaru was the only one that enforced that rule.

Mondo shivered; it was freezing out here. He had only been outside for about ten minutes, but it was already unbearable. He considered going back inside and just waiting by his dorm room but… no. He was Mondo Oowada, and he wasn’t going to half ass this.

Besides, based on what he knew now, it was very likely that, in a week’s time, Ishimaru was going to die while returning to Hope’s Peak from home. That would explain why he was out so late on a school night. He knew Ishimaru was to die on the stairwell leading up to the dormitories, but there was always the chance that he may have been followed. Mondo looked around; from the front entrance, one could see the vast majority of the campus. There was the Reserve Course building, the Main Course; even the fountain wasn’t too far away. The culprit could be from anywhere on campus, huh?

This was giving him a headache. The more he thought about it, the more Ishimaru’s death seemed to be a random occurrence. But Chihiro brought Mondo back early enough to save him for a reason. And Mondo wasn’t about to give up; he wouldn’t let Ishimaru be forgotten again. Especially since he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that there was no damn way Ishimaru died from accidentally falling down the stairs.

Mondo was pulled from his thoughts when he finally saw Ishimaru walking towards him. He was bundled up as usual, and didn’t seem to notice Mondo sitting on the bench just a few feet away. Perhaps his mind was on other things?

“Oy, Kiyotaka!” Mondo called, waving at him from his spot on the bench. Ishimaru flinched at the sound of his voice; he really must have been lost in his thoughts. Once the initial startle wore off, however, Ishimaru beamed at him.

“Kyoudai!” Ishimaru shouted, strolling towards him. Over the past couple of days, they had grown accustomed to calling one another the nickname. And Mondo liked it, too. The last person to really call him by any sort of nickname was Daiya, and it was kind of nice having someone else be so friendly with him. “Good evening! What…” He paused when he got a close look at Mondo. “What happened to your hair?”

“Uh.” Mondo paused. He hadn’t expected Ishimaru of all people to ask about his hair. Maybe he should’ve tried harder to get it up; he really did stand out without it now. “I ran out of hairspray.”

“Well, it looks fantastic like this!” Ishimaru exclaimed. He reached forward, gently running his gloved fingers through Mondo’s hair. “Hmmm… it is a bit long, though.”

“I’m not cutting it.” And that was true. Mondo liked his long hair; it was troublesome in the future and he had had to cut it, so he was going to enjoy it while he could. Ishimaru’s hand soon rested on Mondo’s shoulder, like it typically did. For someone who was so adamantly against public displays of affection, he could be a pretty affectionate guy.

“What brings you here this evening, Kyoudai?” Ishimaru asked.

“I was waiting up for ya.”

“Ah… I see.” Ishimaru grinned. “That’s so kind of you! But it’s really cold out here. You could always wait inside for me.”

“Eh, maybe next time.”

Ishimaru held his hand out to help Mondo up.

“You really should get gloves, you know.” Ishimaru said as the two walked inside together.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll get some later, okay?” He replied. “Why do ya go home every weekend, anyways?”

“Why wouldn’t I? Being there for my family is important, and my home is only thirty minutes away by train.”

“Yeah, but part of the fun of bein’ at a school like this is ya get to spend all your free time with your friends. It’s kinda like bein’ an adult, y’know?” Actually, it was better than being an adult, Mondo thought bitterly... at least with how the future was doomed to turn out it was.

“I suppose…” Ishimaru replied. “But I haven’t really had anyone to hang out on the weekends with.”

“Oh.” Right, Mondo thought, he hadn’t had any friends until… less than a week ago. Right.

“But, if I’m honest… this is the first time I’ve anticipated coming back so much.” He turned to face Mondo and beamed at him. “I couldn’t wait to hang out with you, kyoudai!”

“Uh…” Mondo couldn’t help it; he began to blush at Ishimaru’s blunt honesty. “Y-yeah. Me too.”

Mondo had to keep this kid safe, no matter what. He still had no earthy idea who could possibly be behind his murder, but at the very least he had a plan. Next week, he was to die in the stairwell leading to the dorms, right? Well, he would just wait up there all night and fight the killer himself. He was sure he might get in trouble for such an action, but unlike Ishimaru, he had no problem taking down some asshole on school grounds. Especially considering what they were going to do.

* * *

 

The week continued as usual, and Mondo couldn’t help but notice Ishimaru was a little… off.

It wasn’t in action, really. All things considered, he was the same as usual. He was the first one to class, greeted everyone with his loud “ _good morning!_ ” and was glued to Mondo as usual during lunch and in between classes. However, he wasn’t as affectionate as he had been in the past couple of days. When Mondo put his arm around Ishimaru’s shoulders, he noticed Ishimaru shying away a bit, which was odd. That, and he was dressing unusually. Over the past couple of days, he hadn’t taken his scarf off once. Mondo supposed it was cold… but it wasn’t _that_ cold, was it?

On Thursday evening, Mondo headed to the library, as usual. Ishimaru always went there to study just before dinner, and sometimes he would stay there so long he’d forget to come eat. It was one of the few times of the day that Mondo didn’t spend hanging out with him. Mostly because Ishimaru wouldn’t let him. He had a loud speaking voice and never studied himself, so while Ishimaru loved spending time with him, he insisted that he needed to study alone and keep the library a quiet, peaceful place.

“Hey, Mondo.” It was Leon, standing a few yards away from the library’s shut doors. Mondo felt bad; he remembered being close to him in high school. But as of late, he had been neglecting him more often to hang out with Ishimaru instead. He would get back to him soon enough. Ensuring Ishimaru- and the world- were safe came first. Besides, Leon didn’t seem to care too much. He was a pretty popular guy, and never seemed to be without a friend.

Except right now.

“What’s up, Leon?” Mondo asked.

“Nothing much, nothing much…” Mondo could tell from the smug look on Leon’s face that he wasn’t here to make small talk. “So, you know the hall monitor…”

“You didn’t lock him in the shed again, did ya?” Mondo asked, clenching his fist. “Because-”

“Hey, hey, calm down, I apologized for that, didn’t I?”

“No.”

“Oh. Well. Sorry about that.”

“Whaddaya want, Leon?”

“I just had a question.” Leon explained, putting his arm around Mondo in a friendly- albeit mischievous- manner. “Does the hall monitor have a girlfriend?”

“What?” Mondo asked. That was honestly the last thing he had expected Leon to say. “Why the hell are ya asking me that?”

“’Cause you’re the only one who knows a damn thing about him.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Why do ya want to know that?”

“’Cause Hagakure thinks he does, and I’ll be damned if the geeky hall monitor gets a girlfriend before I do.”

“Why the hell does he think that? Kyou- I mean, Ishimaru yells at anyone holding hands in the halls. No way he has a girlfriend.”

“See, that’s what I thought too.” Leon replied, scratching his head. “But Hagakure did bring up a really good point.”

“Did he foresee him havin’ a girlfriend or something?” Mondo asked. “Y’know the guy’s only right like a third of the time, right?”

“Nah, he didn’t predict anything. He just noticed that he’s been wearing a scarf all the time.”

“So what?”

“Y’know who wears scarves indoors like that? Girls that have hickies, dude.”

“Wh-” Mondo shoved Leon away irritably. “Don’t be a pervert, man.”

“I’m not, I swear! C’mon you’ve heard of girls that do that, haven’t you?”

“No! I-I mean, yeah, but… shut up, will ya?”

“Ohhh, don’t tell me,” Leon said, leaning in closer with a smirk. “Maybe you’re his boyfriend?”

Mondo gritted his teeth.

“You have been spending a lot of time around him recently. Do you have a crush, Mondo?”

“Shut the fuck up, will ya?” Mondo snapped. He couldn’t help but yell. He knew he should be more mature than this, but Leon was really getting on his nerves. “Shut the fuck up and stop bein’ so damn creepy about-”

“Kyoudai, stop right there!” It was Ishimaru, who had just left the library and was briskly walking towards them. “Watch your language in the halls! Are you fighting with Kuwata-kun right now?”

“Him? Nah, he’s not.” Leon said, rather calmly. “We were just talking about you is all.”

“Really?”

“Really!” Leon repeated. “I was just wondering if you had a girlfriend.”

“No.” Ishimaru said without missing a single beat. “High school is a time when one should be studying and preparing for their future! Entering a romantic relationship would simply-”

He was cut off when Leon quickly reached forward and tore the scarf from his neck, a cheeky grin on his face. Mondo was ready to snap at him for being such an asshole…

But then he noticed that he was right. There were marks on Ishimaru’s neck. Except they weren’t hickies like Leon had teasingly thought. The bruises on Ishimaru were long lines that crossed the sides of his neck. Mondo had seen such marks before in fights he had gotten into with other gangs.

It was a sign that he had been strangled.

“Kyoudai-” Mondo began.

Before Mondo could process what he had just seen, Ishimaru snatched the scarf out of the shocked Leon’s hands and quickly headed down the hallway, away from the two of them. Mondo just stared in the direction Ishimaru had left in, too shocked to move, as he tried to process what he had just seen.

Ishimaru had been… strangled? By whom? Who would do such a thing to him? Mondo could feel rage building up inside him. Someone was actively hurting Ishimaru… and for whatever reason, Ishimaru had felt the need to hide it. That meant that whoever was hurting him likely did it often. And whomever it was, they were in such a place of power that Ishimaru felt the need to hide it instead of report it or fight back. Mondo clenched his hand into a fist. Just who the hell was hurting Ishimaru? And why?

“Whoa.” Leon said, effectively pulling Mondo from his thoughts. “He’s way kinkier than I thought.”

Mondo punched him roughly in the gut, sending him to the floor.

“You’re an asshole, Leon!” Mondo spat. And without another word he quickly ran down the hall to catch up to Ishimaru.

Not that it mattered, because by the time he got to Ishimaru’s room, the door was firmly shut and locked up tight.

“Kyoudai!” Mondo shouted, pounding on the door. “Hey! Open up, will ya?!”

But there was no response. Mondo kept relenting, pounding on the door, but to no avail. Ishimaru clearly wasn’t coming out tonight.

“I’m gonna kill Leon…” He muttered, slamming his fist against the door one last time. He considered, for a moment, kicking the door down, but if Ishimaru wasn’t willing to talk to him when he knocked, he probably wouldn’t want to talk to him if he did something even worse. With a heavy sigh, he pulled a crumpled up piece of paper from his pocket and quickly wrote:

_Kyoudai,_

_If you need to talk come to my room, ok?_

_-Mondo_

He slid it under the crack of the door, then headed back to his room begrudgingly. What more could he really do? He all but collapsed on his bed, glaring at the ceiling. He wasn’t tired in the slightest, and there wasn’t much else for him to do right now but dwell. The image of Ishimaru’s bruised neck kept passing through his mind, and the thought made his blood boil. Who hurt Ishimaru? Who was hurting Ishimaru? And how had he not noticed now, or ever, that anything was wrong with him? Ten years ago, Mondo remembered, there were days that Ishimaru came to class with his scarf tied firmly around his neck and his heavy jacket on, even when it was far too warm to need them. Mondo’s stomach dropped when he realized that that had happened multiple times in the past. He hadn’t noticed. No one had noticed.

God, Mondo thought, slamming his fist into the mattress, none of them had cared about Ishimaru at all, had they? No one had noticed him acting different and if they had, no one had cared. Hell, Leon only started teasing him because Mondo was hanging around him. What the hell was wrong with everyone? Why had they all so quickly forgotten him?

His depressing train of thought was interrupted by knocking at the door.

Mondo immediately rushed to the door and was thankful to find Ishimaru standing there. He was still in his uniform and, much to Mondo’s dismay; he was still wearing that scarf.

“Kyoudai…” Ishimaru said, nervously messing with the note in his hands. “I know it’s late, but does your offer still stand?”

“Late?” Mondo glanced back at the clock on the wall. It was barely past ten. “Bro, I typically don’t get to bed until one.”

“You should really change that.” Ishimaru replied. But despite his scolding he took that as an invitation and strolled into the room. Seeing Ishimaru standing in the center of his cluttered room made Mondo realize just how messy it was.

“Uh, you can sit-” He rushed to the bed, slapping a bunch of junk off of it onto the floor. “There ya go!”

“Thanks, Mondo.” Ishimaru said, taking his spot on the bed. “But you should clean your room. Tidiness and organization will help your focus!”

“Whatever.” Mondo replied, joining him on the bed. He had the urge to put his arm around Ishimaru’s shoulders like he usually did but stopped himself. Now he could guess why Ishimaru had been shying away from his touch so much recently. “Hey-”

“Please forget what you saw earlier.” Ishimaru interrupted.

“…What?”

“Please forget what you saw earlier.” Ishimaru repeated. “It was a mistake on my part, and it will be best for everyone if you forget it ever happened.”

“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” Mondo snapped. “I’m not forgetting shit until ya tell me what the hell’s going on here!”

“That’s none of your business.”

“It’s not, but I wanna know.”

Ishimaru didn’t look very swayed by his argument.

“Can ya tell me as your friend? C’mon, Kiyotaka, _please_. If someone’s bullying my best friend, I want to know.”

“Bullying?” Ishimaru asked. “Oh, kyoudai, nothing like that’s happening, don’t be silly! Any bullies would be swiftly dealt with.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Of course!” Ishimaru exclaimed, a proud grin on his face. “Anyone who bullied me in middle school would be sent to the office immediately! They all quickly realized it wasn’t worth the amount of trouble they got in!”

“Then who is hurtin’ ya?”

Ishimaru’s jovial attitude immediately vanished and he looked hesitant once more.

“No one.” Ishimaru replied quickly.

“Bullshit. I saw the marks on your neck, Kiyo.” Mondo argued. “That’s what happens when someone has their hands wrapped around it. What the hell happened to ya?”

“I’m disturbed that you recognized that so quickly. What kind of things are you getting into with your gang?”

“Don’t change the question on me. Who’s hurtin’ ya?”

“…I am.” He finally replied, quietly.

“Ya can’t strangle yourself.”

“No, but…” Ishimaru brought his hand to his neck, idly stroking the scarf wrapped around it. “I still caused this.”

“How?”

“…Mondo,” he asked, “how does one learn things?”

“Huh?” Ishimaru’s stare didn’t falter; clearly he wanted an answer. “By being told something and then remembering it, I guess?”

“No. I meant… how does one learn _not_ to do something?”

“Uh…” Mondo had no idea what Ishimaru was trying to get at. “Ya get in trouble?”

Not that that stops me, Mondo thought.

“Precisely.” Ishimaru replied. “When you do something wrong, you are punished for it so you don’t do it again. And-”

“Wait, someone tried to strangle ya because ya made a mistake?!”

“I… admit it went a little farther than it usually does, but it’s all part of the learning process.”

“Yeah?” Mondo asked, his fist gripping so tightly to the sheets that his knuckles were beginning to turn white. He had an idea of where this was going, and it was taking everything in him to keep his rage in check. “Who taught ya this shit, Kiyo?”

“My father, of course.” Ishimaru replied calmly. He said it in such a matter of fact tone, as if Mondo had asked him something as obvious as what color the sky was.

Mondo wanted to believe that he had grown more mature over the past ten years. While he still was a bit impulsive and had quite the temper, he wanted to believe he was much less reckless and wild than he used to be. And that was how he had managed to keep his cool in this conversation.

Until now, that is.

“What the fuck?!” Mondo snapped, finally raising his voice. “You’re tellin’ me that your dad fuckin’ beats ya?!”

“Mondo, please.” Ishimaru replied calmly. “He does not… _beat_ me. Getting beaten up would imply that I was an innocent bystander! This was just fair punishment.”

“Fair punishment?! For what?!”

“Hmm…” Ishimaru brought his hand to his mouth, clearly deep in thought. “Breaking a plate, if I recall correctly?”

That just made Mondo even angrier.

“How the fuck is this-” Mondo shouted, tearing the scarf from Ishimaru’s neck once more, “a fair punishment for breaking a fuckin’ plate?!”

“W-wait-”

“No! Don’t try to excuse it, okay?! Do ya even hear yourself talking right now?! If ya break a plate or something like that all ya need to do is clean it or something!! What's wrong with you?! Do ya not realize how fucked up this is?!”

“I’m sorry.” Ishimaru replied.

Mondo calmed substantially when he noticed that Ishimaru wasn’t trying to argue with him anymore. In fact, he looked rather sullen. The bruises on his neck were still as dark and angry as they were before, and Mondo became keenly aware that he was still holding Ishimaru’s scarf in his hand. He immediately felt a wave of guilt pass over him. What the hell was he doing? Ishimaru was being _abused_ ; how the hell was yelling at him going to make him feel any better?

“I-I’m sorry too.” Mondo muttered, handing the scarf back to him. “But… you do realize that this is fucked up, don’t ya?” Ishimaru didn’t say anything, instead just wrapping the scarf around his neck again in silence. “Ya can’t go home this weekend.”

“What?” Ishimaru interjected. “No, I have to!”

“Why? You’re being abused, kyoudai! I’m not just gonna stand around and let ya go when you’re hurting like this!!”

“I’m fine.”

“No you’re not! Did that look fine to you?!”

“W-well…” Even Ishimaru looked hesitant.

“Look, Kiyo…” Mondo put his hand on Ishimaru’s shoulder, doing his best to gentle. “Why exactly do ya want me to keep this to myself?”

“Because…” Ishimaru gulped. “Even if this was as bad as you say it is, I cannot leave my father! The Ishimaru name has already suffered through enough scandal! If I were to bring this to light, it would only drag my name further through the mud! I simply cannot allow that!”

Mondo just stared at him. He was going through all of this suffering, alone, just for his last name?

“Are you fucking serious?!” Mondo snapped. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! Who gives a shit about your stupid name?!”

“I do!” Ishimaru snapped. He stood up abruptly, forcing Mondo’s hand off his shoulder. “My name is all that I have! Everything I’ve done… everything I’ve worked for… has been for the sake of my family! How dare you call me dumb for that!” Mondo could see that he was crying now. This wasn’t that surprising. Ishimaru was passionate and seemed to cry at anything he felt strongly about. But the sight still put a pit in Mondo’s stomach. He had never seen Ishimaru so saddened, so angry… and all of it was directed at him. “There’s no way you could possibly understand this…!”

“Hey-” Mondo stood up too, but Ishimaru just backed away towards the door.

“Please, just forget all of this, Oowada-kun. Nothing happened.”

Before Mondo could say anything more, Ishimaru left the room, firmly shutting the door behind him. Mondo wanted to go after him, but what good would that do? Ishimaru and him were alike; both as stubborn as a damn mule. He had upset him; he had insulted the thing that mattered most to him. No way in hell was Ishimaru going to listen to him now. Mondo violently swiped his hand across his desk in frustration, knocking all of its contents on the floor.

He had fucked up.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, the classroom was tense. While Ishimaru had shown up to class, he hadn’t greeted everyone with his normal hello. Instead he sat in silence, doing his work with a firm glare affixed to his face. During breaks and lunch, he made no effort to hang out with Mondo. Mondo could feel his glare on him from across the room, but whenever he looked back at him, Ishimaru looked back at his work.

Yup, Ishimaru was pissed. And Mondo knew it was all his fault. Once again he let his impulsiveness get the better of him and now Ishimaru was pissed off. In all honesty, he was pissed, too. Why couldn’t Ishimaru see what was happening to him? Why couldn’t he just admit it was a problem? He was hurting so much; why wouldn’t he accept anyone’s help?

Then again, he supposed he knew why. Ishimaru worked hard in everything he did. He never took help; he was too adamant to make sure that everything he accomplished was of his own accord. He wouldn’t be accepting help with something like this anytime soon, and calling his name “stupid” had just been the icing on the cake. Besides, Mondo could understand him, in his own weird way. Back when he was in high school, he had been told multiple times by multiple people that being in the gang was no good for him; he came home and to school with injuries all the time. If Ishimaru had told him that it was stupid of him to stay in gang back when he was sixteen, he probably would’ve blown up, too.

Mondo sighed. This was a mess. And he was nearly out of options and nearly out of time. Today was Friday, and Ishimaru would be leaving in less than twenty-four hours. He would be returning to an abusive home where god knows what would happen and then, sometime after he returned…

He would be murdered.

Mondo felt horrible. What in the world could he do? Ishimaru was actively avoiding him. How the hell could he properly warn him of anything if he wouldn’t even let him into his room? He attempted to go to the faculty office to ask them for help, but he was told that it would take a few days for them to get back to him. He was pissed off but ultimately not surprised. This was the school where the apocalypse would begin, where the faculty was hiding human experimentation and later, mass murder. Why the hell would they try and help one of their students with their problems at home?

By Friday night, or should he say, Saturday morning, Mondo resigned to sitting out by the front door. He still had a plan. He’d wait up the night of Ishimaru’s death in the stairwell where he was to die. He’d catch the killer in the act before they could lay a finger on him. Once that was said and done, he’d find a way to help Ishimaru with his problems at home. But it wouldn’t hurt to at least tell him to be careful, and to try to make amends.

At around seven in the morning, Ishimaru finally reached the front hall.

“Uh…” Ishimaru clearly regretted saying anything to him, but he was already making eye contact and it was too late now. “What are you doing here?”

“I knew this is the only way I’d be able to talk to ya.” Mondo said, finally getting to his feet.

“Well, what is it?” Ishimaru asked. “I’m… in a bit of a hurry.”

“I know.” Mondo replied bitterly. “Look, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for insultin’ your family name like that. I shoulda known how much it meant to ya, and I was being an asshole.”

“It’s… all right, kyoudai.” Ishimaru replied. “I suppose I was a little dramatic as well. I didn’t mean to blow up on you. I guess… well, I’ve never had anyone find out my secret before. I didn’t really know how to react. And… I didn’t realize how troubling it’d be to people.”

There was an awkward silence between them for a few moments. Sure, they were apologizing, but both of them knew that the problem hadn’t even come close to being solved.

“Well,” Ishimaru said, adjusting his bag a little, “it’s really time that I should be-”

“There’s nothing I can say that will stop ya, is there?” Mondo interrupted.

“No, Mondo.” Ishimaru replied, smiling sadly. “I’m afraid there’s not. My family needs me, and I’m not about to let them down.”

“…Okay.” It hurt Mondo more than anything in the world to say that, but what could he do? Lock him in his room? Hurt him so he couldn’t leave? Scream and argue with him until Ishimaru stormed out again?

“I’ll see you on Monday.” Ishimaru said, turning away.

“Wait a sec!” Mondo reached out and grabbed his hand. “Be careful, okay? Try to stay safe.”

“I know.”

“A-and if ya see anything suspicious, leave it be, got it? Just keep yourself safe. Please!”

“Mondo, what has gotten into you?”

“Just promise me you’ll stay safe. Promise me!”

Ishimaru looked confused at Mondo’s persistence, but finally he smiled and squeezed his hand in response.

“I promise, kyoudai.”

It took Mondo everything in his power to finally let go of Ishimaru’s hand.

“I’ll see ya on Monday, y’hear?” Mondo said. “I’m not gonna do my homework, and you’re gonna get pissed at me for it, okay?”

Ishimaru just waved goodbye before heading out the door.

And thus started the longest weekend Mondo ever had the misfortune of living through.

* * *

Mondo was a mess of nerves all weekend. Despite nearly being here for two weeks, he had absolutely no leads and no place to start. He once again attended game night with Chihiro, and once again saw nothing suspicious in any in the 77th class. It aggravated him. He considered asking Kirigiri for help, but how could she solve a crime that hadn’t happened yet? There was no evidence leading up to Ishimaru's murder. And after he died, the school had covered it all up. What the hell would he even say to her? Hey I’m from the future and Ishimaru’s gonna die in two days, help me out here? What could he possibly do?

Soon enough, Sunday night rolled around. Just after dinner, Mondo headed towards the stairs leading towards the dormitories. It was here that Ishimaru would die… unless Mondo could help it. Based on the lack of witnesses in Ishimaru’s death, he could assume it happened late in the night, but it didn’t hurt to hang out here early. He didn’t care how late he’d need to be here. He’d save Ishimaru. He had to.

He had a bat with him that he had stolen from Leon’s bedroom earlier, and three energy drinks. He could do this.

By lights out at ten, he had seen most of the other main course students pass by. Most of them ignored him, and a few looked at him weirdly. Nanami had smiled and waved without taking her eyes off her game, and Chihiro had asked him what he was doing, but he was able to come up with a feasible enough excuse. It was now lights out, and Ishimaru was late. But he had expected this. Ishimaru’s home life was, well, bad. Last week he had barely returned to school before light’s out! He wouldn’t be surprised if whatever happened at home occasionally forced Ishimaru to return even later than that. The thought made him sick to his stomach, but he could help Ishimaru with that after he kept him alive.

By eleven, he hadn’t seen anyone except a few stragglers from the main course. Leon was one of them, and looked at him as if he wanted to say something, but he quickly left without uttering a word. Mondo wasn’t sure if he was mad at him for punching him, or if, perhaps, he was actually remorseful for making such distasteful jokes about Ishimaru’s situation. Granted, Leon didn’t know the truth, so Mondo had no clue. He did feel a little bad for punching him so hard, but… he wouldn’t quite say he regretted it yet.

By midnight and through five am, he had gotten incredibly antsy. Where… the hell was Ishimaru? He should be here right now, right? He couldn’t remember the exact time his teacher had said Ishimaru died, (if she had said it at all), but it hadn’t been this late, right? He knew Ishimaru’s home life may cause him to be late coming back but even this was excessive, wasn’t it? There were many occasions in which he considered getting up and maybe checking elsewhere, but he stayed put. Sure, there were other ways of getting to the dormitories, and waiting at the front gate could work too, but Ishimaru was to die _here_. He wouldn’t want to miss him by accidentally going to the wrong place. Besides, waiting at the front gate meant waiting outside. He doubted he’d be much help if he were shivering too much to hold a bat.

By six am, he felt like he was going to pass out. Even when the world was in ruins, he tried his best to not pull all-nighters. He needed the energy to stay alive the next day. Not that he was well rested in the future, but what he did what he could. Thankfully, Mondo started to hear noise upstairs. He could hear a couple people talking to one another; he recognized their voices. From the sound of it, it was Asahina and Sakura speaking. The two of them, aside from Ishimaru, were frequently the first to rise, typically for an early morning workout. Soon enough they were headed down the stairs, but they stopped once they caught sight of Mondo.

“Oowada-kun?” Sakura asked.

“Hey, weren’t you there last night?” Asahina asked.

“Uh…” Mondo was exhausted; it took him a minute to process what the girls had even said to him. “…What?”

“Have you just been sitting here all night?” Asahina asked, looking at the toppled, empty energy drink cans around him.

“What’s it to ya?” Mondo asked. “Have either of ya seen Kiyotaka anywhere?”

“Were you waiting up for him?” Sakura asked.

“Yeah.”

Asahina looked as if she was about to laugh.

“What’s that look for?!”

“Nothing.” Asahina shook her head. “It’s really cute of you.”

“Cute?” Mondo repeated with a glare. He wanted to protest, but he was just too exhausted.

“I’m sure Ishimaru-kun is just fine.” Sakura said. “But you should sleep.”

“…Maybe later.”

“No, now.” Asahina folded her arms. “Do you really think Ishimaru will approve of you doing something like this?”

Mondo already knew the answer to that and didn’t reply.

“I’m sure he’ll be in class soon enough.” Sakura assured.

“…Fine.” Mondo said, slowly getting to his feet. He didn’t trust this yet, but if Sakura and Asahina were already up, that meant that the rest of their class wasn’t too far behind. And based on the unanimous surprise at Ishimaru’s death, he could assume that none of them had witnessed it before class.

So he was in the clear.

Right?

Mondo headed back to his room to take a nap for half an hour. Despite how exhausted he was, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy before drifting off. Ishimaru hadn’t shown up at all, which meant he was still at a complete loss as to whom his killer might be. But, on the other hand, where _was_ Ishimaru? Why hadn’t he shown up? Had Mondo really altered something, just from his warning? Or perhaps his finding out about Ishimaru’s struggles at home would cause Ishimaru to stay home longer? Mondo felt nervous at that thought. What if Ishimaru had brought it up and got in even more trouble? What if he was hurt so bad he wasn’t able to come back to school in time? It brought Mondo little consolation, but if that was the case, at least he was… alive.

Mondo felt sick to his stomach. He really hoped there was some other reason.

After a very dissatisfying nap, Mondo showed up to class. He was a little late, but it didn’t really matter, seeing how the teacher hadn’t arrived yet either. The classroom was filled with chatter, but despite that it still seemed quiet. It made Mondo’s skill crawl. He remembered the last time the classroom had been like this. It was because…

No. Mondo shook his head and sat down at his desk. Ishimaru was not dead. He was just late. Or absent, maybe. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. Mondo had spent all night in the dormitory stairwell, and Ishimaru hadn’t shown up. He couldn’t have died there.

Despite that thought, Mondo couldn’t help but feel anxious and kept his eyes glued to the classroom door. Any minute now, Ishimaru would walk in. His scarf would be tied tightly to his neck; likely due to something unfavorable happening at home that caused his tardiness. But that would be a problem Mondo could help solve later. What would matter, first and foremost, was that he was alive.

Soon enough, their homeroom teacher walked in, looking rather… grim.

That wasn’t good.

She headed towards the podium in the center of the room and, as usual, announced to the class:

“Good morning, everyone!”

“Good morning!” Some of the class responded. Mondo typically never responded to the greeting, but Ishimaru always did, and it was painfully apparent that his booming voice was missing.

“Before we begin class, I’m afraid I’ve got some… bad news.” The teacher said nervously.

Her words made Mondo’s skin crawl, mostly because he had heard them before. Despite that, he remained silent.

“I’m sorry to inform you that your classmate, Kiyotaka Ishimaru…”

Mondo could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

“He was…” She sighed. “He was found dead this morning in the stairwell leading to the dormitories.”

A few of his classmates audibly gasped. Mondo could feel himself shaking.

“It was an accident, of course,” she continued solemnly, “a terrible one. He was likely in a hurry to get somewhere and fell down the stairs. The impact broke his neck.”

No one said anything, so their teacher continued.

“I know how difficult this must be for you all. He was… a stellar student, and I’m sure a friend to many of you. But we must remember to remain hopeful, even in the face of despair. We…”

Mondo was beginning to tune her out. He had heard this bullshit monologue before. He didn’t need to hear it again. Ishimaru had died. Ishimaru had died again and Mondo had been of absolutely no help. He had failed…

“…kun. Oowada-kun?” The teacher raised her voice. “Oowada-kun!”

“What?!” Mondo snapped.

“I would like to have a word with you outside for a moment.” For once, she didn’t look irritated that he hadn’t been paying attention. Mondo didn’t say anything and got up, following her out the door. On his way out, he noticed several eyes on him. Asahina and Sakura looked rather guilty, likely because they had been the ones who had assured him Ishimaru was probably fine. He noticed Chihiro was weeping quietly, wiping their eyes on their sleeve. And Leon… Leon was averting his gaze away from Mondo, nervously messing with the piercing on his tongue.

It was funny, Mondo thought bitterly, last time, no one had looked this upset.

He followed his teacher out into the hallway. He leaned against the wall and waited for her to speak. He knew that if he spoke, he’d likely end up screaming.

“Oowada-kun…” The teacher said sadly. “I’m really sorry for your loss. I know that out of the whole class, you were the closest to him.”

“Just tell me what you want, okay?” Mondo replied curtly. Usually she’d scold him for talking to his teacher in such away, but it seemed she wasn’t going to push him today.

“R-right. This was found on Ishimaru this morning.” She pulled out a small gift bag from her satchel, and handed it to Mondo. “It has your name on it. You can open it whenever you please.”

Mondo made no effort to open it.

“That’s all I wanted to talk to you about. So, if you-”

“Hey.” Mondo interrupted. He glared at her, squeezing the bag in his fist. “Just what the hell really happened last night?”

“Excuse me?” She asked. “Oowada-kun, I already told you.”

“Yeah, and I woulda believed it if I wasn’t hangin’ out in the goddamn stairwell all fuckin’ night!”

He noticed his teacher recoiling at his raised voice, but he didn’t care. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He had to.

“Y-you were?”

“Yeah! I was there the whole damn night! Sakura and Asahina can vouch for me. If you’re gonna fake something, you should probably check so that no one can point out your bullshit!” He strolled closer to her again. “So I’m gonna ask ya again: just what the hell really happened last night?”

“I…” She gulped, clearly intimidated by him. “I am not at liberty to say-”

Mondo slammed his fist against the wall.

“Tell me!” Mondo shouted. “Tell me or I’ll find someone who fuckin’ will!”

She looked terrified. Mondo knew he would regret this later, but he didn’t care. He had already lost. Who cared if he got in trouble or expelled? He had already failed.

“Al-alright, Oowada-kun.” She finally stammered out. “You’re my student. And you were his friend. You… deserve to know the truth.” She waved her hand towards herself, gesturing for him to come closer. He did so, and she whispered: “You’re not allowed to tell anyone of this, you understand? If you do…”

“I’m guessin’ I’ll be expelled right?” He replied, for once lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Probably worse than that.”

“Figures.” With this school, he couldn’t even say that he was surprised.

“Last night around midnight, someone broke into a secure area beneath the reserve course building. I don’t know who broke in or why, but that’s where he was found.”

“What was down there?”

“I don’t know. No one will tell me. It must be something big if they're forcing me to lie to my own students. But I do know this: Ishimaru-kun was not the only body they found down there.”

“…What?”

“Several security guards were found dead as well.”

“What were they guarding?”

“I don’t know." She sighed, and finally backed away. “This school is full of secrets, Oowada-kun. And Ishimaru-kun was unlucky enough to get caught up in one. That’s all I know.”

Mondo wanted to ask something more, but even he could tell that she was being genuine. He knew that Hope’s Peak Academy was secretly a shady organization, and that there were terrible things going on underneath its happy surface that most everyone there didn’t know about. He should know; he had been one of those happily unaware people ten years ago. Apparently, that included teachers as well.

“We should be heading back to class.” The teacher finally said.

“I’m not goin’ to class today.” Mondo replied. He glanced down at the little gift bag in his hand sadly. “I think I need some time…”

“All right, I understand.” She replied. “But please remember: this conversation did not happen, Oowada-kun.”

“I know.” He nodded.

She gave him one last sympathetic look before returning to her classroom, shutting the door behind her. Mondo headed back to his room. Slowly, of course. It was as he made his slow trek back to his dorm room that he realized… no one would get mad at him for running. But despite that, he couldn’t bring himself to go any faster.

It was only when he got to his room that he decided to finally open the little bag. Attached to it was a small string with a slip of paper at the end of it. The note read:

_Mondo!_

_I’d like to formally apologize for what I said to you the other night. I know you were just trying to help. I was already planning on getting this for you, but I suppose it would be a suitable consolation gift anyways!_

_-Ishimaru_

Mondo opened the little bag, and inside he found a pair of warm-looking gloves, identical to Ishimaru’s save for their purple color.

And with that, everything he had been holding back since his teacher’s announcement came out.

He screamed and threw the gift at his bed, before slamming his fist against the wall repeatedly. He didn’t care how much it hurt or how much damage it had caused or how it was beginning to make his knuckles bleed. All he could think about was Ishimaru. He had been so kind, so warm, so genuine… Mondo thought he would be prepared should this happen again. While he had been determined, he knew in the back of his mind that this was always a possibility. He just didn’t realize how much it would hurt this time. Ishimaru didn’t deserve this. He had already been through so much. He had been isolated by his peers, abused by his family, kept in place by his own lack of self preservation… and he had suffered through all of that just to die like this? It wasn’t fair! Ishimaru was strict, yet he was still so kind to everyone he encountered. Hell, he had probably been planning on getting him these gloves since that day Mondo had so rudely thrown snow on him! He was so selfless, so ready to be there for anyone he needed…

Yet he had died like this, leaving only Mondo behind to remember him.

And even then that was one more person than last time.

Why?

How could something this horrible happen to someone so good? Ishimaru deserved the world but the world gave him nothing in return.

And Mondo could’ve prevented it. He had just been too lazy, too incapable, too unintelligent to do a damn thing! Ishimaru had been relying on him! Chihiro had been relying on him, too! And he had effectively let both of them down!

He was truly just as useless as he was in the future, wasn’t he? What good could he possibly do for anyone, regardless of what time he was in?

His whirlwind of depressing thoughts was interrupted when he heard a knock at the door. It was probably Chihiro here to check up on him. Or maybe it was his teacher. Who knew; but he wasn’t in the mood to talk to whoever it was. Unfortunately, the knocking didn’t let up. Clearly this person was going to have their way. Mondo sighed and shoved his bleeding fist into his pocket, and finally opened the door.

“Hey.” Much to his surprise, it was Leon standing at the doorway, looking rather gloomy. “Can I come in?”

“…I don’t care.” Mondo replied. Leon took that as a yes and came inside anyways. Neither of them made an effort to speak, but Mondo could tell Leon wanted to. Leon strolled over to the bed, where he noticed the gloves scattered upon it.

“If ya touch those I’ll break your wrist.” Mondo snapped, just as Leon reached out to grab them.

“…Sorry.” Leon replied, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Why are you here, Leon? Ya come here to ditch class or something? I’m not in the mood to hang out, okay?”

“I just came here to apologize.”

“Huh?” Mondo hadn’t expected that. “For what?”

“For picking on Ishimaru the other day.” He sighed and sat down on Mondo’s bed, sure to sit far away from the gloves. “I was really pissed at you for punching me like that but…. I’m starting to think I had it coming.”

“I did punch ya pretty hard.” Mondo replied, joining him.

“That’s for sure.” Leon chuckled.

There was a heavy silence in the room for a moment, in which neither of them knew what to say.

“There was… something happening to Ishimaru, wasn’t there?” Leon asked nervously.

“Yeah… you could say that.” Mondo said.

“…This is so fucked.” Leon finally said. “To think that someone would want to kill him…”

“Ya think someone killed him?” Mondo asked.

“Obviously. Like that kid would die from being in a hurry… did she really think we’d fall for that?”

“None of us really knew him, though.”

“None of us except you.”

“Yeah…” That didn’t make Mondo feel much better; after all, he had only gotten close to Ishimaru due to initial necessity.

“I’m sorry, Mondo.” Leon said again. “If we had known what he was going through, maybe we could’ve… I dunno.” He stood up, and headed towards the door. “That’s all I wanted to say.”

“Sorry for punchin’ ya, Leon.”

“Eh.” Leon shrugged. “Just promise me you’ll punch the guy who did it even harder when you find him.”

“Yeah,” Mondo replied, as enthusiastically as he could despite the circumstances, “I promise.”

Leon soon left, seemingly not expecting him to join him. That was for the best; after all Mondo wouldn’t be able to explain what happened next. He sat down at his bed once more and picked up the gloves. They were soft; Mondo was sure if he wore them, they’d be really warm. Just what he needed for the cold, bitter winter. He shoved the gloves into his pockets and slid up his sleeve, revealing the small pink watch.

He still felt terrible, but even Mondo knew he had made a difference in Ishimaru’s short life. Last time, there had been no one to mourn him. And while the entire class was suspicious and scared by what had happened, no one had discussed the possibility of finding his murderer or getting to the bottom of this. Well… except probably Kirigiri. But if she had investigated it, she hadn’t told anyone and hadn’t found anything before it was too late. Still, Leon’s apology, the gloves in Mondo’s hand… They were all proof that though he had failed, he had made a difference. He had become Ishimaru’s friend, and he had brought attention to Ishimaru, even if it hadn’t been enough.

If he could do that now, who knew how much he could do when he tried again?

Mondo typed out the date in his watch: _Janurary 6 th, 20XX_ and pressed the button.

He would get it right. No matter how many times it took, he would get it right.

* * *

After the bright light around him faded, Mondo found himself in his room again. But he could still tell that the time was different. The bed wasn’t as messy as it had been a few moments prior, and based on the light outside the window, he could assume it was a bit earlier in the day. Good. He was back where he had started.

This time, he didn’t bother reveling in the daylight and the joyous realization he had gone back. No, he didn’t have time. He immediately rushed out the door and ran down the hallway. He’d find Ishimaru and befriend him again. And this time, he’d do something different. He knew where Ishimaru was going to die, and when. But that wasn’t enough, was it? Ishimaru was still going to return to school with bruises on his neck, and Mondo wouldn’t allow that, either. He was going to save him. He swore on it.

However, things seemed… different this time. Last time he had returned, he had encountered Asahina and Sakura in the hallway, as well as Ishimaru who had scolded him for running. Perhaps he had come back a little later than before? Or earlier? Chihiro’s damn invention didn’t have specific time for whatever reason. Hopefully they’d fix that one day.

Or, hopefully they wouldn’t feel the need to make one in the first place.

Mondo finally arrived at the cafeteria, where he noticed Chihiro at their usual spot in the corner.

"Oy.” Mondo said, taking a seat beside them. “Good morning, Chihiro.”

“Hi, Mon…” They trailed off when they looked up from their computer and gasped. “What happened to your hair?”

“…What?” Mondo said after a brief pause. What were they talking about? Mondo reached up and touched his hair and found it down, just like it had been the past week and a half. When he had come back the first time, wasn’t it an in tact pompadour? “Does it look bad?” Mondo asked quickly once he noticed Chihiro staring.

“N-no, it looks rather nice, actually! It’s just… odd.”

“W-well, I just ran out of hairspray.”

“Probably for the best.” Chihiro muttered.

Mondo remembered that snide comment. This was odd. Why was Chihiro commenting on his hair? Shouldn’t they have asked about his break?

“Whatever.” Mondo replied, feigning irritation. “So, how was break?”

“Huh?” Chihiro asked. ”You already asked me that.”

“I… I did?” Mondo asked, confused. Now he was getting nervous. “This is gonna sound dumb, but what day is it? ”

“Saturday. Why?”

“Saturday…?” Mondo felt his blood run cold at the statement. He brought his wrist up and took a good look at the clock. It read: _January 9 th, 20XX_. It was hard to read, though. The numbers were glitching out a little, changing shape and faltering.

“Thanks, Chihiro. I- I gotta go, I’ll be right back.” Mondo got up and rushed out of the cafeteria before Chihiro could protest.

Once he got to a silent corner of the school, Mondo looked at the watch closer, cursing his luck. What the hell was happening? He had entered the date clearly and precisely; so why was it the ninth? It should’ve been the sixth, just when he had returned from break! If it was the ninth, that meant that he had already argued with and thrown snow at Ishimaru, that the two of them had surprisingly become friends, and…

Ishimaru had already returned home for the weekend.

“What the hell…?” Mondo whispered, shaking the watch gently. Why did this happen? What the hell was going on? He considered entering the date again, but hesitated. The numbers on the screen were still faltering a little, and he grew worried. This… this is why Chihiro hadn’t gone and saved everything themselves yet, right? Of course they had tested it; it just wasn’t finished yet! If he entered the sixth again, he could wind up at an even later date, or maybe even further in the past or future or who knew what? Right now, only one thing was clear to him:

He was running out of time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's already the child abuse tag on this fic but i'd just like to warn that it is described in a bit more detail here  
> as usual let me know if u want me to tag as anything else

Mondo was sitting on a bench near Hope’s Peak’s front gate, waiting patiently for Ishimaru to return. It was getting late; it was already a little past nine. It felt odd doing the exact same thing he had done exactly two weeks ago. Déjà vu was one thing, but manipulating time and repeating his actions was another one. Then again, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. It was Sunday, and he was going to wait up for Ishimaru again.

Mondo shivered; it was freezing, but he wasn’t about to go inside yet. He was out here to wait for Ishimaru, yes, but along with that he just wanted to get a good look at the campus. From the front entrance, he could see the vast majority of the campus. In a week’s time, Ishimaru was to die in the basement of the Reserve Course. Mondo could understand why now. From where he was sitting, he could see the Reserve Course building clearly. In fact, it was the closest building to him. Ishimaru showed up here… late, later than anyone would expect him to, at least. Then, from here he saw someone sneaking into the building late at night. As rule-oriented as ever, Ishimaru probably pursued them, and that’s when he…

Mondo grimaced at the thought. He hadn’t asked his teacher _how_ Ishimaru had died and doubted that she knew. There was the chance that it was actually far worse than falling down the stairs, especially considering how many other people had been killed down there that night. Mondo hoped for his sake that it was a painless death, but somehow, he didn’t think his killer would be so kind.

Whatever, Mondo thought. That doesn’t matter. How he would die wouldn’t matter if Mondo could prevent it first. Now this all only left two questions: who was going to break in here, and what were they after? Mondo had no idea on the latter. It could be anything. The fall of this school was going to lead to the fall of humanity, but what could possibly be down there?

The former, however, Mondo had a few hunches on. It probably wasn’t a teacher or a faculty member. If Ishimaru saw an adult wandering around at night, he probably wouldn’t go after them; while Ishimaru was rule-obsessed he still knew who was in charge, and that would be the adults on campus. So all that left were the students. But… who? With both the Main Course and the Reserve Course combined, there were hundreds of students on campus. Mondo’s guess was as good as any of who it could be. A reserve course student? One of the people in class 77? …One of his own classmates? The list of suspects seemed to be endless and he had no leads.

“Kyoudai!”

Mondo shouted in surprise and nearly fell off the bench at the sound. He looked up and found Ishimaru standing in front of him, a huge grin on his face.

“Kyoudai?” Ishimaru repeated, now looking concerned. “Did I startle you?”

It took a moment for Mondo to reply. He was too busy staring at Ishimaru. Sure, all things considered it hadn’t been that long since he had last seen him, but seeing him before him right now, alive, with a smile on his face, was still breathtaking. He was alive. He was alive, and that’s what mattered. He’d really have to thank Chihiro for this opportunity one day. Ishimaru standing before him at this moment, alive, was nothing short of a miracle.

However, his relief at seeing him alive soon faded when he took notice of Ishimaru’s scarf, wrapped tightly around his neck. Mondo could still clearly remember the horrible bruises that were hidden beneath it and grimaced. Ishimaru was alive for now, but that didn’t mean he was safe. And if Mondo didn’t do anything about it…

“Are you all right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.” Mondo finally said. “Just a bit tired, I guess.”

“Have you been getting enough sleep? It’s important for every growing student to get at least eight hours of sleep each night!”

Mondo couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten more than five hours of sleep. But then again, he supposed he wasn’t technically a growing student anymore, was he? He still had twenty-six years of memories and experiences behind him; he just looked like he was sixteen. He wondered what it said about his maturity that no one seemed to tell the difference.

“Eh. I’ll try.” Mondo said anyways.

“Please do! And…” He paused when he got a closer look at Mondo. “What happened to your hair?”

“I ran out of hairspray.”

“Well, it looks fantastic like this!” Ishimaru exclaimed. He reached forward, gently running his fingers through Mondo’s hair. “Hmmm… it is a bit long, though.”

“Eh, I’ll think about cuttin’ it later.”

Ishimaru’s hand soon rested on Mondo’s shoulder, like it typically did. For someone who was so adamantly against public displays of affection, he could be a pretty affectionate guy. Mondo knew to appreciate it, now.

“What brings you here this evening, Kyoudai?” Ishimaru asked.

“I was waiting up for ya.”

“Ah… I see.” Ishimaru grinned. “That’s so kind of you! But it’s really cold out here. You could always wait inside for me.”

“Maybe next time.”

Ishimaru held his hand out to help Mondo up.

“You really should get gloves, you know.” Ishimaru said as the two walked inside together.

Last time, Mondo had been irritated by his comment, telling him that he’d get some soon enough. But now he couldn’t help but think back to the purple gloves Ishimaru was likely to get him. Mondo clenched his hand into a fist; he was going to make sure to get that gift in person this time.

“How was your weekend, Kiyo?” Mondo asked.

“It was great!” Ishimaru replied, quickly. Even Mondo noticed just how forced the answer seemed. He tried not to press him for now. Last time he had found out about Ishimaru’s secret, it had really set him off. He was going to have to be gentle this time.

“That’s… good…” Mondo replied. Ishimaru didn’t seem to notice how hesitant he sounded.

“But, if I’m honest… I was rather restless all weekend. This is the first time I’ve anticipated coming back so much!” He turned to face Mondo and beamed at him. “I couldn’t wait to hang out with you again, kyoudai!”

It didn’t matter how many times Mondo heard this; he was going to blush.

“Y-yeah. Me too.”

Mondo had one week to save Ishimaru’s life, and he wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Not again.

* * *

 

The week slowly passed, but Mondo was sure to make the most of his time. He left a note to the faculty office, informing them that on the night of the seventeenth, there’d be a break in and multiple murders in the basement of the Reserve Course building. He didn’t leave his name on the note, of course; what would they do if he did? He’d probably be questioned, and how was he supposed to explain how he knew all this? That, and this school wasn’t safe. If whoever was going to kill Ishimaru knew that someone knew their plans… Mondo would probably wind up as their first victim instead. And while Mondo wouldn’t really mind dying if it kept Ishimaru and the others safe, it’d still be a waste. Who would be left to save everything when he was the only one who knew what would happen? He wasn’t sure if the faculty, as careless about their students as they were, would believe his message, but it was at least a start.

Along with that, he had stayed glued to Ishimaru’s side. Sure, he had done this the last time around as well, but this time he was far more adamant about it. He needed to get closer to Ishimaru. He needed to prove to him that he was trustworthy. That he would be his friend, no matter what. Hopefully, this would coax Ishimaru into telling his secret on his own accord? Or, perhaps, if Mondo did bring it up, it wouldn’t escalate into an argument like it had last time. He had to hope.

He also began hanging around Sakura and Asahina more. The two girls were already friends with Chihiro, so it wasn’t too hard to hang out as a group. Part of it was to get Ishimaru to make more friends. Perhaps the killer would think twice about killing Ishimaru if they knew that he had friends who would miss him and try to solve his death?

Somehow, he doubted that.

What he was really doing was befriending Sakura so that he could possibly get her help. Sakura was strong, and though he wouldn’t admit it a decade ago, she was stronger than him. Vastly so. And maybe, if he was close enough to her, he could ask her for her help on this? The night Ishimaru was to be killed, many guards were killed as well. Whoever was going to do it was clearly a talented killer. Mondo wasn’t sure if he’d be able to take them down on his own. But perhaps if Sakura was by his side as well…?

Still, Mondo was hesitant to ask. They weren’t _that_ close yet. What if she didn’t believe him? And what if she did and wound up getting killed herself? He wouldn't want to sacrifice her life for Ishimaru's; he didn't want anyone to die here! He would just have to think about it. At the very least, Ishimaru seemed to be having fun with his newfound companions.

Thursday was the first time Mondo decided against hanging out with Ishimaru. The last time he tried to hang out, he had encountered Leon. And due to Leon’s brashness, Ishimaru’s secret was quite rudely revealed. He wasn’t about to let that happen again. Part one of his plan was to convince Ishimaru into not going home this weekend. And he was sure the subject of his home life would be handled better without it being revealed without his consent.

The only problem was how to talk him out of it.

Last time, Mondo had been too rash. He had torn off his scarf, likely embarrassing him again, then insulted Ishimaru’s family and called him stupid. That… certainly hadn’t worked. But Mondo wasn’t sure _what_ would work. He and Ishimaru were very similar; both of them were as stubborn as could be. How was he supposed to convince someone like that to ditch his family, whom he had worked so hard to impress? It wasn’t going to be easy. He would have to be gentle. But what could he say? Telling him to just leave hadn’t worked. Telling him that he was getting hurt didn’t work. What was he supposed to say? Mondo spent all week trying to think of it. With a temper like his, he was worried he would screw up.

Mondo was wandering the hallway that evening, sure to steer clear of the library. Ishimaru would come out of his own accord, and the two of them could hang out together, hopefully without Ishimaru being antagonized by Leon. But that still left a problem… it was already Thursday. Mondo had three days, and still hadn’t come up with what to say. What was he going to do?

His thoughts were interrupted when he accidentally bumped into a girl walking before him. Or, now that he thought about it, she had run into him. Her eyes were glued to the screen of the handheld game she was playing, and even after colliding with Mondo and falling to the ground, she was still watching her game. He recognized her pretty quickly: this was Nanami, the class rep for class 77.

“Shit, sorry!” Mondo exclaimed, holding his hand out to her. She ignored him, instead holding her finger up.

“One sec.” She said, her voice quiet and obviously distracted. Mondo wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Had… she really noticed at all? Finally, he heard what sounded like victory music come from the game and she looked up at him.

“You okay, Nanami?” He asked, holding his hand out to her again. She said nothing and took it, slowly getting to her feet.

“I’m fine.” She replied, returning to her game once more. “…How do you know my name?”

“Huh?” It took Mondo a moment to remember that, this time around, he hadn’t gone to class 77’s game night, so he hadn’t technically met her yet. “Oh, uh, I’m a friend of Chihiro’s. They told me a lot about ya.”

“Chihi… oh, you mean Fujisaki-chan! I know who you are; you must be Oowada-kun, right?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me. You can just call me Mondo, though.”

“Mmm.” She nodded.

A heavy silence hung in the air. She was hard enough to talk to during game night; it was even harder now.

“Well, I should get going.” Nanami finally said. “It was nice meeting you, Oowada-kun.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Mondo hadn’t gone to game night this week. He had been too preoccupied with other things. Maybe he’d go again once he was sure Ishimaru was safe and none of the despair-inducing crimes would occur. Maybe he’d bring Ishimaru as well. He had a hard time imagining Ishimaru playing video games, but everyone there was friendly enough. Plus, Nanami seemed really good at giving advice on how to make friends…

He stopped in his tracks, suddenly remembering what she had told him at that game night that now felt like ages ago:

_“If you do nothing and just wait for something to change… nothing will happen.”_

She had been talking about making friends, of course, but her words still rang true. Yes, he could prepare as much as he like, warned as many people as he saw fit, but the problem with Ishimaru’s fate still remained. And he needed to do something, directly. He had been waiting this whole time for Ishimaru to come to him on his own. But… that wasn’t going to happen, was it? If Ishimaru had truly wanted help, he would’ve sought it out on his own.

Mondo would have to help him. Or at least make him realize he needed help. If he didn’t… well, Ishimaru would never do it on his own, would he? Not until it was too late.

“Kyoudai!” He turned around and found Ishimaru walking towards him eagerly. His scarf was still wrapped tightly around his neck and he seemed rather chipper, so Mondo could assume that Leon hadn’t went through with his teasing this time. Good.

“Kyoudai!” Mondo exclaimed once Ishimaru joined him at his side. He put his arm around Ishimaru’s shoulders, which he visibly flinched at. Thankfully, he didn’t look too troubled by it and quickly returned to his smile. “H-hey, I was wondering if you were free this weekend?”

“Sorry, Mondo.” Ishimaru replied. “I’m afraid I’m never free on the weekends.”

“W-well, how about Friday night? Ya free then? Ya don’t usually go to your parent’s house til Satuday morning, right?”

“Yes, that’s true.” Ishimaru replied. “Why?”

“Well, I was just thinkin’… Did ya wanna have a sleepover at my place?”

“…A sleepover?” Ishimaru looked genuinely confused.

“Yeah… you’ve never been to one, have ya?” Mondo replied. “It’s where, y’know, ya go over to a friend’s house, stay the night and like… play video games and watch movies and stuff!”

“You want me to spend the night at your house?”

“Of course! It could be loads of fun!” Mondo exclaimed. “Besides, it’s only about an hour away from here. And I promise I’ll take ya to your parent’s house first thing in the morning on Saturday!”

“Hm…” Ishimaru brought his hand to his chin in thought. “…Will there be enough time to finish our homework?”

“Definitely!”

“And… you promise to get me to my father’s house the next morning?”

“Just give me the address and I’ll get ya there.”

“Hmm…” Ishimaru still looked skeptical, but finally he nodded. “Sure, kyoudai. I’d love to have a sleepover at your house!”

* * *

 

That Friday, after class, Ishimaru met Mondo outside of the school’s gate. Mondo was already on his bike, prepared to go. While he was still nervous, he felt elated. He had lost this bike ages ago after the world fell apart; he had missed it. It felt good to be back, and he squeezed the handlebars happily.

“Kyoudai!” Mondo exclaimed, once he saw Ishimaru heading towards him. “All set?”

“I think so…” He looked at Mondo and his bike skeptically. “Wait, are we riding to your house on… that?”

“Damn straight! Now hop on!”

“…Is it safe?” Ishimaru asked.

“Of course! I’ve never been in a single accident!” Well, Daiya preventing him from being hit by a truck probably counted as an accident but… somehow Mondo knew telling Ishimaru that wouldn’t ease his worries.

“Do you have a helmet?”

“Yup, here ya go.” Mondo held the helmet out to him.

“What about for you?”

“Eh, I don’t need one.”

“What? Of course you do, kyoudai!” Ishimaru exclaimed. “It is extremely dangerous to ride a motorcycle without one! Are you aware of what kind of head injuries you can sustain if you fall?!”

“Yeah. That’s why I’m makin’ sure you get the helmet no matter what.”

Ishimaru looked taken aback for a moment, and Mondo could’ve sworn he saw his cheeks flushing a little.

“But…”

“Look, Kiyo, I know I’ve got an extra one at my place. I’ll make sure we both have one on the way back, ok?”

“…Alright.” He finally complied and nervously got on the bike behind Mondo. “Where’s the seatbelt?”

“There isn’t one.”

“Wh-what do I hold onto, then?”

“Me, of course.” Mondo hesitated. It had been a really long time since he had a passenger, let alone a passenger who had no idea what they were doing. “Just hold onto my waist, okay? It’s not that scary.”

“I’m not scared.” Ishimaru argued. Mondo just chuckled as he finally felt Ishimaru wrap his hands around his waist. And with that, he took off.

Mondo forgot just how fun it was to ride down the road on his bike. In the future, the roads were all but demolished, making it incredibly difficult to get anywhere. That, and the sky was dyed a blood red and the air was harsh to breathe what with all the smoke and destruction. He forgot how much fun it was to ride down the smooth road with the cool, clean air hitting his face as he sped by. Despite the elated feeling he got from riding in a normal world, his thoughts couldn’t help but return to Ishimaru. He had been silent during the duration of the trip, which was to be expected. It was damn near impossible to talk to someone while riding a motorcycle except at stoplights. No, it was the feeling of Ishimaru against him that made his thoughts wander. He could feel Ishimaru’s face nuzzled against his back and his arms, though no longer shaky, held onto his waist with an unyielding firmness. Mondo wondered if Ishimaru would be a good hugger if he wasn’t such a hard ass about rules.

Not that he wanted to hug him, of course.

And not that Ishimaru would ever want to hug him, either.

It was just a thought.

Mondo could feel his face heating up and instead tried to focus on anything else.

It took awhile, but finally Mondo reached his old apartment, one city away from where Hope’s Peak Academy was located. Despite all those years being apart from it, Mondo still remembered the route perfectly. After all, it was the apartment he had grown up in with Daiya for as long as he could remember. It was small and, if he remembered correctly, usually trashed, but despite it all he missed the place. Especially in the future where it was all but destroyed. If he had known the world would go to shit, he would’ve gone back and kept a few mementos with him. He supposed now, should all else fail, he could do just that.

He shook his head. No, no, what was he thinking? He wouldn’t need to do that! The world wasn’t going to end; he would see to it personally!

“Here we are.” Mondo said, pulling his bike to a stop. He got off and Ishimaru followed behind, looking rather pale. “…You okay, kyoudai? Wasn’t too rough, was it?” He put his hand around Ishimaru’s shoulder gently.

“That was… actually, it was fun!” Ishimaru said suddenly, a smile on his face.

“For real?” Mondo asked. “Even I was scared the first time I rode one.”

“Well, it’s hard to be scared when you’re there, kyoudai!”

Mondo was determined to save Ishimaru’s life, but this kid was certainly going to be the death of him.

The two of them went inside Mondo’s apartment where, just as expected, it was totally trashed. Thankfully, Ishimaru didn’t seem to mind so much. As long as he had enough space to do his homework, he seemed okay with it, but he did insist that Mondo should clean it later. Mondo couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less at a sleepover than homework, but at the very least Ishimaru sort of made homework fun. He wasn’t against talking while working; he considered it to be teamwork. The material was rather dull, but Ishimaru was fun to talk to, and his enthusiasm was rather contagious. Mondo found he enjoyed every second with him, even if it did suck that Ishimaru made him do his homework over and over again until each problem was correct.

Finally, they finished their homework, which left a little time to do other things. It was beginning to get dark out, but it wasn’t quite dark enough to be dangerous. The two of them went out for a bit, where he got them cheap bentos from a convenience store near by. Based on Ishimaru’s blank stare back at the convenience store when he had asked him what he wanted, Mondo could assume he had never gotten cheap, pre-prepared food like this before. Huh. Ishimaru certainly lived a different life than his.

When they got back home to eat, Mondo opened the door to the balcony. Sure, it was still cold; but his apartment always seemed to get so damn stuffy. Plus, on the fourth floor like he was, there was a nice view of the starry sky; despite the frigid winter air, the sky was clear as a glass of water. He missed the clear sky when in the future he had nothing but the dismal red of pollution and destruction filling the air. 

“Mondo,” Ishimaru asked, pointing to a framed photograph sitting just a few inches away on the small table, “Who is that?”

“Mmmm?” Mondo asked, his mouth full. He grabbed the picture and recognized it in a heartbeat. It was an image of him and Daiya, years ago though it felt even longer now. “It’s me n’ my brother, Daiya.”

“He looks just like you, kyoudai!”

Regarding the picture gave Mondo an idea. That picture… it was taken almost twelve years ago today. It was an image of four-year-old Mondo with ten-year-old Daiya, standing side by side with wide grins on their faces. Mondo remembered this event vaguely, and he didn’t understand the significance of the image until years later when he had asked Daiya about it.

He thought about Nanami’s words; that nothing would change unless he did something directly. And throughout the duration of this sleepover, he hadn’t said anything yet. This was his chance.

“We look a little fucked up, don’t we?”

“Huh?” Ishimaru asked, taking a closer look at the image. “What do you mean? You look like children.”

“Nah, look closer.” He pressed his index finger against the thin glass, pointing to Daiya’s face. “He’s all scuffed up. I am too, but not as much.”

“Why? Oh!” Ishimaru gasped. “Don’t tell me you started gang activity this young?!”

“Nah, that wouldn’t happen for another couple of years.”

“Then what happened?”

Mondo took a deep breath. This was something he had never told anyone about but Ishimaru… He would be an exception. Who cared about his own pride when it came to Ishimaru’s safety?

“I don’t remember a lot from this picture, y’know. I was only about four when this happened. I was a pretty dumb kid. Always runnin’ around, knocking shit over, causing trouble… It was no wonder my folks got sick of me real quick.”

Ishimaru, who had been about to take another bite from his dinner, stopped abruptly at his comment.

“What?”

“Ya heard me. I caused all sorts of trouble. Y’know me pretty well, are ya really that surprised?”

“I-I suppose not, but… what do you mean your parents were sick of you?”

“It happens. They were drunk a lot, got mad real easy… at least, that’s what Daiya told me. I don’t remember, really.”

“You don’t remember your own parents?” Ishimaru sounded appalled.

“How much do you remember from when you were four?”

Ishimaru didn’t reply.

“That’s what I thought. Anyways, Daiya put up with that shit for ten years. Figured that even bad parents were better than no parents at all. Didn’t give a damn when they yelled at him for dumb shit. Put up with it even they hurt him. He pushed through it all until something finally happened to me.”

Ishimaru gazed at the picture with a newfound horror, but didn’t say a word.

“I don’t know what I did… I’m guessin’ I probably broke something, but I don’t remember. My old man hit me real hard… and that’s when Daiya decided he had had enough. That night, he ran away from home and took me with him, and we never looked back.”

“You two survived… all on your own?” Ishimaru asked. Mondo could tell he was beginning to tear up.

“Yeah. We… well, I guess he... found a way to make it work. He had friends with actually decent parents or people that were willing to let in a couple of kids for a while. We moved around from place to place for a while and he eventually he started up the gang. The Crazy Diamonds sorta became our new home, y’know? Put a bunch of fucked up people together and we called it a family.”

“Kyoudai… I had no idea…” Ishimaru said, wiping his eyes on his sleeves.

“I didn’t either. For years I didn’t really think about it; it was just my life. Wasn’t until I entered grade school and got all jealous of the other kids who had a mom and dad to go home to. When he told me why he did it, though… I understood. He saved my ass so many times, I really hope he knows how grateful I am for it.”

“H-he…” Despite wiping his eyes earlier, Ishimaru’s crying seemed to have only gotten worse. “He sounds like a truly wonderful brother… What a horrible situation! I’m so thankful the two of you managed to escape it!”

It was just as Mondo thought. Ishimaru immediately understood the plight of others, but when it came to himself, he was blind to it. He was just like Daiya in a way… not caring about his own pain but jumping at the chance to ease the pain of others.

Ishimaru was truly wonderful. And Mondo hoped he could help him realize it.

“Ya think it’s horrible?” Mondo asked.

“O-of course it is! You two were innocent children! To think that someone would hurt you like that…”

“Then why is it okay for you?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’ve never told this story to anyone else and there’s a reason why I’m tellin’ ya.” Mondo took a deep breath; it was now or never. “I know your dad beats you, kyoudai.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Ishimaru asked, his face growing pale.

“Your scarf. Ya haven’t taken the damn thing off in a week, and I know it’s cause ya got bruises on your neck.”

“That’s… um…” Mondo could clearly see the confliction on Ishimaru’s face. He was never one to lie, but it looked like he was heavily considering it. Too bad he was horrible at lying, and the fact that he brought a hand up to anxiously mess with the scarf was evidence enough of the truth.

“C’mon, please,” Mondo said, keeping his voice calm, “I just wanna help ya, okay?”

“I don’t need help, kyoudai, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, that’s what I bet Daiya thought up until I got hurt.” Mondo said. “Ya just said it yourself; we were kids and we didn’t deserve that. So why is it different for you?”

“I’m not a child!”

“You’re sixteen! Besides, something tells me this didn’t start recently.”

“W-well…”

“Look, Kiyo. Let’s say ya found out my dad was beatin’ the shit outta me. Hell, let’s say ya found out any of our classmates was gettin’ the shit beat out of ‘em. Wouldn’t ya do anything ya could to help ‘em out?”

“Of course I would!”

“Then why is it different for you?”

“I… Well…” Ishimaru had grown visibly nervous now. It was clear to both of them that he didn’t have an answer, at least not one that would appease him. “What am I supposed to do, Mondo? I’m not like your brother. If I were to run away, it wouldn’t be noble; I wouldn’t be protecting anyone. It would just be yet another scandal for the Ishimaru family to deal with. I can’t allow that to happen.”

Mondo knew this was coming, but the answer still irritated him. He took a deep breath; as stupid as it sounded, he couldn’t be as rash as he was last time. He was different from Ishimaru. He would never understand why that was so important to him. He just had to remember that and stay calm. 

“Who’s to say ya can’t fix it again?”

“What?”

“Right now… everything you’re doin’, it’s so you can put the Ishimaru family name in a good light again. Well, who’s to say ya can’t do it again if ya run away?”

“But-”

“Your name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru.” Mondo said firmly. “And it doesn’t matter where ya are, who you’re with, or what you’re doing. You’ll always be an Ishimaru. And I know without a single doubt that Kiyotaka Ishimaru is capable of anything he damn pleases. But I’m sure it’ll be a bit easier if you’re not gettin’ hurt all the time.”

“You… you… ” Tears were streaming down his cheeks now as he looked up at Mondo in disbelief. “You truly have that much faith in me?”

“Of course! You’re the top of our class, all from hard work! Hell, you’re at Hope’s Peak itself because of your damn determination! You can do anything ya set your damn mind to, kyoudai!” Mondo reached his hand out and gently placed it on Ishimaru’s shoulder, sure to mind whatever bruises might be underneath. “You’re Kiyotaka Ishimaru. And you’ll bring greatness to your name no matter what ya do. I swear. So please… please, kyoudai, I’m beggin’ ya here… please leave home. At least stop going over there on the weekends. We can find someplace safe for ya later when summer rolls around. But for now, please…”

Ishimaru looked away hesitantly. Despite everything, he still looked unsure of himself. He was scared, nervous… but at least this time he seemed to be listening.

“Let me think about it.” Ishimaru finally replied. “Please. This is a lot to consider, and I… I’m not sure.”

“Okay.” Mondo finally said. He wanted to press harder. He so desperately wanted to push him until he agreed. But he had tried that last time and broken his heart, days before letting him die. This was a start.

After hanging out for a bit longer, filling the time with pleasant conversation and games rather than the depressing topic at hand, they went to bed. Mondo wasn’t remotely tired, and he got the feeling that Ishimaru wasn’t either, but Ishimaru insisted on a curfew. Mondo knew he should get some sleep; these next two days were going to be trying, regardless of the outcome. But he couldn’t bring himself to rest at all. His stomach was in knots, and all he could do was stare at the ceiling and hope. Hope that Ishimaru would agree with him. Hope that Ishimaru would listen to his words and realize that he deserved better. Hope that Ishimaru would come back with him to Hope’s Peak tomorrow, safe and sound. And, above all, hope that Ishimaru would survive to see January nineteenth and onwards.

The next morning, when Mondo woke up, he was alone. He could smell… something coming from the kitchen. Was Ishimaru trying to cook? Did he even have anything in his apartment that wasn’t frozen or microwavable? He couldn’t remember.

He got up groggily and headed towards the kitchen where he found Ishimaru working away at his tiny stove. Once he noticed Mondo, he burst into a grin and waved.

“Good morning, kyoudai!” Ishimaru exclaimed.

“Yeah, mornin’, Kiyo…” Mondo replied, rubbing his eyes. “What’re ya doin’?”

“You were so kind to get me dinner last night, so I decided to return the favor!” Mondo walked up behind him, observing the frying pan. It seemed like he was attempting to make eggs. It didn’t look very good, and it smelled funny, too.

“What… exactly are ya makin’?”

“Omelets!” Ishimaru replied.

“Uh-huh.” Mondo replied curtly, picking up and inspecting the carton of eggs. “Y’know these eggs expired a week ago, right?”

“…I see.” Ishimaru said, after a pause. “That… that would explain the smell…”

“Go sit down. I think I got some cereal somewhere.”

“All right.” Ishimaru sighed.

After Mondo got rid of the attempted omelets he joined Ishimaru at the small table and poured them some cereal. Mondo couldn’t help but notice that while they were eating, Ishimaru’s eyes kept straying to the framed photograph of him and Daiya.

Finally, he cleared his throat.

“Kyoudai.” Ishimaru said firmly. “After this, would you be willing to drive me to my father’s home?”

Mondo’s grip on his spoon tightened and he grit his teeth.

“…Really? Kyoudai, are ya sure?”

“Yes. I thought about this all night long and I’ve made my decision. I need to talk to him. It… it would be rude of me to return to Hope’s Peak without informing anyone.”

Mondo dropped his spoon and it hit the table with a loud clatter.

“Ya… ya mean?!”

“Yes, Kyoudai. I will be returning to Hope’s Peak Academy with you today. I promise.”

He looked up at Mondo, with that expression of undeniable determination that Mondo so admired. And Mondo couldn’t remember feeling such joy in years.

* * *

 

Right after breakfast, Mondo drove Ishimaru to his home just as promised. Ishimaru had instructed him to wait outside and be ready to take off in a hurry should need be. Mondo attempted to join him inside but Ishimaru shut him down, telling him that his father would not likely care to see someone like him accompanying his son. Mondo begrudgingly agreed to stay outside, but he still felt a little wary. What if Ishimaru got hurt while inside?

Then again, if Mondo were to join him, there’s always the chance he’d wind up wringing his old man’s neck and somehow he knew Ishimaru wouldn’t appreciate it regardless of the sentiment. So Mondo sat outside, across the street from the house, likely suspicious-looking to the relatively calm neighborhood. He kept his eyes fixated on the house the entire time. Ishimaru promised him that this would take fifteen minutes, twenty minutes tops. He seriously hoped that was true. If he waited any longer, Mondo might have a heart attack on the spot from sheer nervousness.

After five minutes, Mondo noticed the curtains drawn aside in the window facing him. It was Ishimaru, and he made firm contact with Mondo for a moment before returning back inside the room. Mondo knew what he was doing; he was allowing him to watch, and take action should anything go wrong. Mondo sat up straight on the bench and stared at the window intently. There was a glare on the window from the early morning sun that made it difficult to see who was sitting where, but he could see two people sitting at the table, talking.

For about ten minutes, it was just that. Talking. There were many occasions in which Mondo considered taking out his phone, or messing with his bike while waiting, but he kept his eyes glued to the window. Twenty minutes tops, he reminded himself.

It was getting close to fifteen minutes, and Mondo found himself growing even more nervous. His heart was pounding in his chest, and the desire to get up and just drag Ishimaru out of there was getting stronger by the second, but he stayed put. He was so close. He couldn’t fuck it up now.

Finally, just when he thought he couldn’t wait any longer, something happened. One of the figures stood up abruptly, and the other followed suit. Mondo could hear muffled speaking, then a loud clatter; it sounded like an argument, and it sounded like it was getting bad. Mondo stood up and headed towards the house, ready to intervene. However, before he reached the front door, Ishimaru came bursting through it quickly shutting it behind him. For a moment, Mondo couldn’t speak; he was too busy gaping at Ishimaru. All things considered, he looked fine. But Mondo’s eyes were immediately drawn to the gash on the left side of Ishimaru’s forehead, which cut through his eyebrow, stopping just above his eye.

“Kyoudai, what…” Mondo began. He could feel rage boiling inside him, and he clenched his hand into a fist. “I’m gonna kill him.”

Before he could take another step forward, Ishimaru grabbed ahold of his hand and began to lead him towards the bike.

“Let’s just go.” He said firmly.

“No! Look what he did to ya!!” Mondo exclaimed, shaking his hand out of Ishimaru’s grip. “Do ya really think…” He trailed off when his eyes met Ishimaru’s. He looked different than he had ever seen him before. He didn’t look as passionate or fiery as he usually did. He seemed completely and utterly defeated.

“Please.” Ishimaru said. “Can we just go?”

“…Fine.” He said finally through gritted teeth. “Let’s get ya outta here.”

Mondo drove them a few miles away before finally stopping at a park. As much as he wanted to take Ishimaru away from this shitty mess as soon as he could, he needed to help him first. Besides, maybe it would help calm him down. He still felt utterly enraged, but there was no way he could go back and kick Ishimaru’s dad’s ass. At least… not right now. 

“Sit down at that bench, okay?” Mondo asked. “I think I got some stuff to clean ya up with.”

Obediently, Ishimaru did as told. He had hoped Ishimaru would say _something_ , explain what had happened to give any indication that he was all right, but he didn’t utter a word. He just gazed listlessly at the snow-covered ground at his feet. Mondo felt around in his pockets and thankfully found some wipes and a bandage. He was almost thankful he had gotten into so many fights before the apocalypse began; it meant he made it a habit to carry such items. Mondo stooped down before Ishimaru and began to wipe the drying blood off of his forehead and cheek.

“This might sting a bit.” He said, just before wiping the still bleeding gash on his eyebrow. Ishimaru just nodded, and didn’t wince when he finally did it. Nor did he react at all, really. Mondo was starting to get nervous. Ishimaru was never this unresponsive. Maybe it would’ve been better if he hadn’t intervened at all.

No, no, this was the right thing to do! It had to be! Ishimaru was hurt and rather defeated but he was alive. And when you’re alive, anything is possible.

“Just what the hell happened in there?” Mondo finally asked. Ishimaru still said nothing, his gaze still troubled and far away. Mondo just sighed and went back to work, applying the bandage to the split running through Ishimaru’s eyebrow. Thankfully, the bleeding had mostly stopped.

“I shoved him.” Ishimaru said abruptly.

“What?”

“I…I shoved him.” Ishimaru repeated. “I thought this was going to be quick. I would just walk in, and tell him that I wouldn’t be coming home on weekends anymore. I didn’t have to say that I planned on leaving for good. It’s not necessarily a lie; no other arrangements had been made yet. But… as usual, things got out of hand. I was stupid to think this wouldn’t turn into an argument, that it would all go smoothly…” Ishimaru held his hands out, staring at them in horror. “I knew I had to hurry. I had promised you; twenty minutes! But we were both so stubborn. He grabbed me. And I… I…”

“Kyoudai-”

“How could I do such a thing?!” Ishimaru shouted. “Violence against my own family… my own parent… that’s completely inexcusable! I deserved this! No, I deserved worse than this!! I-”

“Oy, Kiyotaka!” Mondo snapped. “What you did was just self defense! Hell, if it was me in there I woulda done much worse! Besides, just look at you! He attacked you!”

“This was an accident.” Ishimaru said hastily. “When I tried to leave, he shoved me back. I don’t think he anticipated me hitting the side of the cabinet.”

“Doesn’t matter what he was anticipating! He shouldn’t be hurting you at all!”

Ishimaru still didn’t look convinced, and continued to stare at his own hands with remorse. This had likely been the first act of violence he had ever committed, and even if it was in self-defense, he still couldn’t seem to forgive himself. Mondo reached out and grabbed Ishimaru’s hands, and Ishimaru finally looked at him.

“I’m proud of you, Kiyotaka. I know you feel bad for what happened, but it took a shit ton of courage. It must have been really scary to stand up for yourself like that.” He smiled. “You’re really fuckin’ strong, y’know that?”

Ishimaru said nothing for a moment, just staring back at Mondo in awe. Then, with a choked sob, he threw his arms around Mondo’s neck and hugged him tightly. Mondo staggered back for a moment, caught completely off guard by the embrace. Ishimaru, of all people, was hugging him. He knew it was selfish to think this way, but he realized that he couldn’t remember the last time anyone had hugged him. It just occurred to him how much he missed having any form of affection.

He awkwardly looped his arms around Ishimaru’s waist and hugged him in return, patting his back gently in comfort as Ishimaru wept into his shoulder. He wondered, for a second, if he should say anything; he had never really been good at this whole comforting others thing. He finally decided to remain silent and just savor the sensation of holding Ishimaru in his arms. This was about supporting him, above all else. Besides, knowing him he’d wind up saying something stupid should he speak.

Eventually, Ishimaru’s crying let up and he finally pulled away.

“My apologies, kyoudai.” Ishimaru said, whimpered, wiping the last of his tears away. “That wasn’t appropriate, was it?”

“Does it look like I give a damn?” Mondo replied. “Besides, it was… kinda nice.” Mondo immediately regretted the comment and could feel himself blushing, so before Ishimaru could respond to that he stood up and quickly held his hand out to him.

“I-it’s about time we get goin’, don’t ya think?!” Mondo exclaimed, his voice growing louder. He was trying to get better about it, but he still had the habit of shouting when he got nervous. 

“I agree.” Ishimaru said. He took Mondo’s hand and stood up. And though his eyes were still red and swollen and it looked like he might cry again at any instant... he smiled. “Kyoudai, your hand is so cold! Which reminds me…” He opened his backpack and pulled out the warm pair of purple gloves, holding them out to Mondo triumphantly. “Here you are! I made them for you last week, but I forgot to bring them back with me at the time…”

Mondo recognized the gloves in a heartbeat. The last time they had been given to him, they had been in a little gift bag, and had been handed to him by his somber homeroom teacher, moments after announcing Ishimaru’s death. Now, it was Ishimaru holding them out, a smile on his face, just as it should have been. Mondo gingerly took the gloves from him, as if grabbing them any faster would destroy the image before him and return him back to that dismal reality.

“Thanks, Kiyotaka.” Mondo said, sliding them onto his hands. After all of the fear and anxiety that had ensued after his first failed attempt at fixing everything, he had nearly forgotten about Ishimaru’s present. But now, he couldn’t think of a time he had ever been happier to receive a gift. “Really, it means a lot.”

“You’re welcome, Mondo!” Ishimaru replied. “Oh, and look!” He reached his own gloved hand out, pressing his palm against Mondo’s. “See? We match now!”

Normally, Mondo would’ve wound up a blushing mess at such an action. But now he couldn’t focus on anything aside from his hand against Ishimaru’s, and the warmth radiating off of it: an undeniable sign that Ishimaru was standing before him, alive. For a moment, he felt like he might cry. Instead, he took a deep breath and kept the tears at bay. How the hell would he explain why he was crying over a pair of new gloves?

“Let’s go already,” Mondo said, finally heading back to his bike, “gloves or not, it’s fuckin’ freezing out here!”

He hopped on his bike with Ishimaru behind him, and the two headed back to Hope’s Peak Academy. Mondo was thankful he got back safely; after all, his gaze kept wandering to the purple gloves that remained warmly on his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i remember back in 2013 when dr was like. actually relevant and stuff a lot of ppl headcanoned Mondo as having a not so good home life bc why else would he only mention daiya when growing up; it's a bit odd to only talk about your brother as your only family? i cant remember where i first saw that headcanon but a lot of ppl headcanoned him as having run away from home with his brother and then they started a gang later. something like that. idk


	6. Chapter 6

Ishimaru returned to Hope’s Peak Academy, safe and sound on Saturday the sixteenth. While that certainly eased a substantial part of Mondo’s worries, he wasn’t out of the woods yet. Ishimaru was alive… for now. Sure, as long as Ishimaru did what he usually did at school, there was a relatively low chance of him getting murdered on the night of the seventeenth. However, that didn’t mean the world was safe yet. Mondo had likely prevented the first victim’s death in the string of tragedies, but he still didn’t know the culprit. And soon, he’d have to face them head to head if he wanted to improve the world beyond one single person's life.

After he and Ishimaru returned that Saturday morning, they went their separate ways. Ishimaru insisted that there was homework he really needed to get to that he would like to work on alone. While Mondo had significantly cheered him up from earlier, anyone could still tell that he was not his usual, cheerful self. Mondo figured that homework was part of it, but he likely also wanted time to himself. He could respect that. What mattered was that he was at Hope’s Peak Academy, which, for now, meant he was safe. Mondo returned to his room, figuring out what he might do come Sunday night.

He decided to write a couple more letters to warn people. Another to the school faculty; they had probably ignored the first one and would likely do the same with this one, but it didn’t hurt to try. And he gave in and decided to write Sakura, as well. She might not believe it either, or even consider it a prank, but the more people he warned, the better.

He also stole the baseball bat from Leon’s room again. It didn’t hurt to have something to defend himself with, he supposed.

Late Saturday night, likely into early Sunday morning, Mondo was still awake, staring at the piece of paper on the table before him. He was having a hard time coming up with what to write, and the more he wrote it, the more unbelievable it sounded.

_Sakura,_

_There will be a murder in the basement of the Reserve Course building around midnight on the 17 th. Please help!_

No, that sounded weird, didn’t it? He erased it.

_Sakura,_

_You can help prevent the deaths of five-ish people if you come to the basement of the reserve course building around midnight on the 17 th. _

No, too uninformed. He erased it again.

_Sakura,_

_The world will end if you don’t come to the basement of the reserve course building around midnight on the 17 th! _

That was even worse.

Before he could rewrite the letter again, he heard a knock at the door and quickly shoved the letter into his drawer. He had no idea who could possibly want to talk to him this late, but a distraction might be nice. Maybe he could write something more coherent in half an hour. He opened the door where, to his surprise, he found Ishimaru staring back at him. Mondo glanced back at the clock; it was one-thirty in the morning. What in the world was Ishimaru doing up this late?

“Kyoudai,” Ishimaru began, his voice quieter than usual, “may I come in?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah! Of course!” He held the door open and let Ishimaru inside. Once again, Mondo rushed over to the bed, knocking all sorts of junk off of it so Ishimaru had a place to sit.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you so late, Mondo.” Ishimaru said.

“Eh, I wasn’t sleeping.”

Usually that’d be met with a stern remark about going to bed on time, but Ishimaru said nothing.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Mondo asked.

“I can’t sleep.” Ishimaru finally said. “I was wondering if I could stay the night with you?”

Mondo hesitated for a moment, quickly glancing back at the drawer where the failed attempts at a warning were stowed away.

“ I-I mean if that’s all right with you! If not, I completely understand!”

Mondo knew he should say no. He had work to do; he had an apocalypse to stop and lives to save. But… looking at Ishimaru now, his eyes red from a day likely spent crying, desperately seeking out comfort even when it was far too late in the night to be wandering about, Mondo couldn’t say no.

“Of course ya can.” He finally said. “I was about to go to bed anyways.”

Mondo changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top and when he returned to his room, he found Ishimaru preparing a pillow on the floor beside the bed.

“What the hell do ya think you’re doing? You’re not sleeping on the floor.”

“I’m not going to steal your bed from you.”

“Who said anything about stealing? C’mon, get on the bed, we’re sharing it.”

“If you insist.”

The two climbed into bed. Mondo had underestimated just how little space that was for two people, but he didn’t care. Sleeping in a crowded bed was better than sleeping in no bed at all, which is what he had been used to for the past couple of years. Laying uncomfortably on his side to not take up too much space was still better than that.

“Kyoudai?” Ishimaru whispered. “Are you still awake?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“What I did today… running away from home, essentially… do you really think it was the right thing to do?”

“’Course I do.” Mondo replied. “Getting ya to a safe place is the right thing to do, I swear.”

There was silence for a moment, and based on the way Ishimaru was shifting beside him, Mondo could assume that that answer hadn’t eased his worries yet.

“What if I am unable to do anything worthwhile? Then is it still the right thing? That… that would just make me some child that ran away from home, wouldn’t it?”

Mondo rolled over, where he found Ishimaru looking as uneasy as ever, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

“Hey.” Mondo said firmly. “It’s gonna be alright, y’hear me? I know it’s overused to hell, but it’ll get better. I’m sure things look pretty bleak right now, but give it some time, I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

“Mondo…” Ishimaru wiped his eyes and sighed. “You’re right, I shouldn’t be dwelling on this. The future can just be a bit frightening, I suppose.”

“That’s for damn sure.” Mondo regretted it the moment he said it; he didn’t mean to sound so grim, and of course Ishimaru picked up on it.

“Are you worried about the future, kyoudai?”

“’Course I am. You’d have to be an idiot to not be.”

“I see. I had no idea you were concerned with such things! What are your plans for the future anyways, Mondo?”

That was certainly a loaded question.

“Uh…” Mondo hesitated. He couldn’t remember what he had had planned when he was in high school. He had been pretty carefree and hadn’t really worried about it. In fact, that was how he lived most of his life. Even after the apocalypse began, he never really had any concrete plan, he just thought about making it through each day. Now that he thought about it, this was truly the first time in his life that he had a plan for the future at all, but beyond saving Ishimaru and saving the world, he didn’t have a plan. “I don’t know. At the moment, not dying is the only plan I have.”

“What?” Ishimaru sounded horrified. “You’re not in danger, are you?!”

“No.” That was a lie, but now that Ishimaru was safe at Hope’s Peak, he wasn’t about to tell him the truth and risk endangering him again. “It was a joke, okay? I don’t really have a plan. Never really been good at anything, so I don’t have any job in mind, I guess.”

“Don’t sell yourself so short! I’m sure there’s something you’d be great at!”

“Like what? Riding a motorcycle doesn’t really pay any bills.”

“That may be true, but there must be something…”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Hmm…” Ishimaru shut his eyes for a moment, concentrating heavily. “Oh, I know! You should be a veterinarian!”

“…What?”

“A veterinarian!” Ishimaru repeated. “I know how much you love animals, so why not make a career out of it? You’d be able to spend time around dogs and cats all day!”

“What? No way.” Mondo replied. “I’m a dumbass at science; no way I could be a vet!”

“Oh, don’t be like that, kyoudai! Being smart or not has nothing to do with it! So long as you work hard, you can accomplish anything!”

“Still… A vet, huh?” Mondo had never considered it before. He did indeed love dogs, but he wasn’t sure if he was suited to be a vet. He wasn’t necessarily the definition of careful, and if he had to put an animal down he might just cry on the spot. “I dunno if I could see myself as a vet.”

“That’s fine! There’s a world of opportunities out there for you! How about a teacher?”

“What the hell would I even teach?”

“I don’t know… gym, perhaps?”

“Pass. I’d probably get fired for swearing in front of kids.”

“It’d be a great opportunity to fix your swearing problem.”

Mondo just laughed at that.

“Fine, fine, how about a cop?”

“I’ve probably fought too many cops to become one.”

“I don’t want to know. All right, then how about a baker?”

“What the fuck makes ya think I could bake?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Ishimaru yawned. “Most anyone can be a baker, I think. You follow the instructions… just don’t burn it like I do…”

“Ya can’t bake?”

“I tried baking cookies once.” Ishimaru yawned again. “They were awful.”

“Well I’d like to see ya try it again sometime.” Mondo mused. He’d like to hear more of the story, but he could tell from Ishimaru’s slowed speech and his drooping eyelids that exhaustion was finally getting the better of him. “But for now, I think ya should go to sleep.”

“Mmm, you too, Mondo.” Ishimaru mumbled, shutting his eyes. “You need to work on… your sleeping schedule.”

“G’night, Kiyotaka.”

Ishimaru didn’t reply, and soon Mondo could hear his breathing grow heavy, so it was safe to assume he was asleep. He knew he should get some rest, too. He was going to go up against whoever was going to start the apocalypse tomorrow, and he’d need his strength. But despite that, he was too nervous to do so. There were still so many variables and so many unanswered questions. And of course, there was the nagging thought in the back of his mind that told him how easily this could all go wrong. He found himself growing restless, and considered getting out of bed to fix that letter to Sakura, but he decided against it. If he couldn’t write a coherent letter an hour ago, there was no way he’d be able to write a better one now. Besides, he didn’t know how light of a sleeper Ishimaru was, and he didn’t want to wake him.

Ishimaru…

Mondo’s gaze returned to him once more. He was still nervous for the day to come, but looking at Ishimaru helped take his mind off things. Ishimaru really did look exhausted, and regardless of how stressful of a day it had been for Mondo, he couldn’t possibly imagine what Ishimaru was going through. Sure, he had gone through something similar, but that had been years ago, when youth had made him blissfully unaware. Ishimaru didn’t get that privilege, and as he slept away Mondo couldn’t help but notice the effects the day had had on him. There were red marks around his eyes, likely due to excessive crying, and the bandage on his left eyebrow was impossible to ignore. That, and now that Ishimaru was in his pajamas, he could see the bruises on his neck from the previous weekend. They had faded substantially, and would likely go unnoticed by anyone who wasn’t searching for them, but Mondo could still see them. If anything, gazing at Ishimaru just made his resolve stronger. Right now, he was broken up, still reeling from what had occurred to him. But he was here, and he was alive, meaning he could do anything. And Mondo was going to make damn sure that Ishimaru lived to see January nineteenth, and the twentieth and onwards until Ishimaru’s skin was free of bruises and scars and he would be smiling, surrounded by people who cared about him and he spent each and every day working towards whatever goals he set his mind on, with no doubt in his mind that he could achieve them. That was the future Ishimaru so deserved, and Mondo would see to it that he got to live it.

Mondo leaned forward, kissing Ishimaru’s forehead gently.

“G’night, Kiyotaka.” He whispered again, soft enough that he wouldn’t hear. It was far past midnight now, already the dawn of the seventeenth. Today was the day, and while he was scared, he meant it when he said:

“I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

* * *

 

Time passed, just as it always did, and soon enough day turned to night and January eighteenth was growing closer and closer. Mondo had asked Ishimaru to not come to his room tonight; coming up with the excuse that it would be irresponsible to have a sleepover on a school night. Thankfully, it seemed to work and Ishimaru didn’t show any signs of doubting him. For now, Mondo just had to pray to whatever gods out there that Ishimaru wouldn’t find any reason to leave his room tonight. He eventually did write that note to Sakura, slipping it under her dorm door while she was out during the day while no one was around. Maybe she’d come, maybe she wouldn’t, but it was worth a shot.

Around eleven forty-five, Mondo finally left his door room, Leon’s bat clenched tightly in his glove-covered hands. The halls of Hope’s Peak Academy were quiet and lifeless. Mondo had expected this, seeing how he had waited up all night in the stairwell last time. That meant whoever the assailant was, they were not part of these dorms, didn’t come to their rooms for the night, or had found another way back inside. Regardless, it didn’t matter. He knew where the bastard was. All that mattered now was stopping them in their tracks.

Mondo walked through the empty corridors in silence, and with each step he could hear his heart pounding in his chest. He was scared. He was honestly, truly scared. But he had no choice. Whoever he was going up against was a relentless murderer. But if he didn’t stop them, more lives would be on the line. He pressed forward.

When he exited the dorm building and headed towards the Reserve Course building, he noticed two pairs of footsteps in the snow-covered ground, leading towards a hidden stairwell on the side of the building. He couldn’t figure out whose footprints they were, but didn’t dwell on it. Perhaps if Kirigiri were here she could figure it out, but he knew he wasn’t smart enough to do so. All he could tell was that they were smaller than his. He continued down the stairs, trying to keep his steps as quiet as possible. At the bottom of the stairs, he found a heavy looking door that was locked with a keypad… however, the door was cracked open and the keypad broken, its remains still sparking. Mondo gulped. This… really was it, wasn’t it? He took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping inside the narrow hallway. What he found before him was a nightmare. There were several guards stationed in this hallway, all of whom were collapsed on the ground in pools of their own blood. Mondo instinctually brought a hand up to cover his mouth. He… he knew this was coming, and after surviving through the apocalypse for so long this sight shouldn’t startle him, but on the seemingly peaceful campus of Hope’s Peak after weeks of normality, it was nothing short of a disaster.

That, and his thoughts wandered to Ishimaru. What had his reaction been to seeing such horrors? And why… why had he felt the need to press on? Why hadn’t he turned back and asked for help? Why did he have to be so damn heroic to fight the killer alone? 

Mondo knew the reason why. It was for justice; that was just the self-sacrificing person Ishimaru was. Besides, that’s what he was technically here for right now, too. But that didn’t make the sight any less terrifying, and knowing that this was the last thing Ishimaru would have seen before dying made him sick to his stomach. He continued forward, reluctantly.

Soon enough, he could hear the sound of footsteps ahead of him as well as someone talking. Their voice was high pitched and peppy, and Mondo recognized it pretty quickly. Besides, once those thick, blonde twin tails came into view there was no room for doubt. Before he could do anything, however, Mukuro noticed him and quickly rushed over to him, pinning the hand he was holding the bat in against the wall and pressing her blood-soaked knife against his throat.

“Whoa, whoa, sis! What do you think you’re doing?” Junko asked calmly. Now that she was turned around, Mondo noticed that she was eating a plate of takoyaki as casually as ever. “Oowada-kun? What are you doing here?”

Her tone of voice almost made her sound completely innocent and unaware, but Mondo knew better than to fall for it, what with all the blood on her shoes and the fact that she could calmly eat takoyaki in a room filled with fresh bodies.

Still, he couldn’t believe it. Of all the people in Hope’s Peak Academy that could’ve done it, the one who kick started the apocalypse was... Junko Enoshima, the peppy, seemingly friendly enough girl, and a member of his own damn class? Mondo felt himself growing angrier by the second. He hadn’t noticed. And from what he knew, no one else had either. She had played them all for fools, everyone had been so convinced by her friendly, outgoing attitude that no one had found out her true nature.

Well, no, Mondo thought. One person did, and that was Ishimaru. And for realizing this, he had been executed.

“Y-you…” Mondo muttered, glaring daggers at her. “You’re the one behind all this?!”

“Behind all of what?” Junko asked. “I haven’t done anything yet. Unless…” She brought her hand up to cover her mouth in feigned, overdramatic shock. “Unless you’re here to see Kamukura-senpai as well?! Is that it?”

“Kamukura…” Mondo gasped. That… that was a name he hadn’t heard in quite some time, but the sound of it still brought a horrible feeling to his gut. Izuru Kamukura… yes, he recognized that name. It was the new name of the poor student Hope’s Peak Academy had experimented on. The human with artificial talent that had turned into a relentless killing machine after the apocalypse, the cause of so many deaths on the student council and likely the cause of all the Reserve Course suicides.

But… no, that wasn’t all just him. When the news came out, it was said that he had broken out in the middle of the night. But that wasn’t the case. Junko and Mukuro had broken him out, and it was through her manipulation that he likely turned out that way. This really was the beginning of the end, wasn’t it?

“Izuru Kamukura…!” Mondo repeated. “That’s what’s down here?!”

“Huh?” Junko looked genuinely shocked at that comment, though it didn’t last long. “You actually know about him? Wow, the security here really must be bad if even the class delinquent knows about him.”

“Shut up!” Mondo spat. “I know what you’re plannin’ to do so give it up already!”

“What, and you’re going to stop me? With that?” Junko teased, pointing an accusatory finger at the bat in his still pinned hand. ”You can try as hard as you want, but…” She stepped forward, leaning in dangerously close to him. “You’re going to die.”

She nodded her head at Mukuro, but before she could slit his throat, Mondo harshly kicked her in the stomach. It did very little to incapacitate her, but at least the knife had only left a small nick in his neck. Mukuro glared back at him, clearly ready to strike again, and Mondo squeezed the bat in his hand. He knew he wasn’t going to win this fight. While he considered himself pretty good at fighting, there was no way he’d be able to go toe to toe with someone who was a Super High School Level solider. But he’d be damned if he didn’t try.

Besides, anyone could tell it was Junko running the whole show. If he could at least get _past_ Mukuro and stop her, then it’d all be okay… even if he wound up losing his life.

Swifter than Mondo thought possible, Mukuro rushed toward him, her dagger in hand. He was barely able to avoid what would likely be a killing slash, but thankfully he raised his right arm in time for her to plunge the blade into his arm instead. He hissed in pain, but did his best to ignore it, swinging the bat at Mukuro with all his strength. He missed, of course, only barely brushing against Mukuro’s arm before she was back at him again without missing a beat.

Mondo considered himself an all right fighter, and his time fighting off rioters during the apocalypse had only added to that. He had to admit he was impressed with how long he had lasted in the fight with Mukuro. But, as usual, it came to an end all too quickly. Sure, he had gotten few hits in; there was a bruise on her right leg that looked like it would turn pretty nasty in the next couple of days, but he certainly didn’t incapacitate her. Soon enough, she managed to knock the bat out of his hands and with swift movements, slashed his leg and his chest, causing him to fall to the ground, bleeding heavily all over the tiled floor. He couldn’t get up no matter how hard he tried; his chest was bleeding fast, causing him to feel dizzy and weak, and the gash in his leg rendered it useless. He had no choice but to glare up at his soon-to-be killer.

“Wait a sec, sis.” Junko said, holding her hand up. Mukuro stopped obediently, taking a silent place at her sister’s side. Junko stepped forward, pressing her heel roughly against Mondo’s shoulder as she stared down at him. “Y’know, Oowada-kun, I’m really disappointed. I had such a great plan in mind for our class! But it’s not going to work if even a single one of you is gone.”

“What the hell are you gonna do?” Mondo spat.

“Nothing, now.” Junko said, looking legitimately saddened. “Like I said, my wonderfully despair-inducing plan for class 78 just wouldn’t be the same if anyone in that class died early. Oh well, though.” Her sad expression soon shifted into a wide, horrifying grin. “At least it will be fun to witness the despair your death will bring. You’re Ishimaru-kun’s only friend, y’know? I wonder how much he’ll cry when that friend dies?” She giggled. “He'll probably be so lonely. What if he's so sad he stops talking to anyone? What if he even starts ditching class, too upset to leave his room? Why, I bet it’d bring him such despair, it might even drive him to-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Mondo shouted. “Don’t you touch him! Don’t you dare lay a damn finger on him! If ya do, I’ll-”

“You’ll _what_ , Oowada-kun? Face it; you lost.” She paused when she heard the sound of footsteps nearby. Mondo heard it, too, and his mind began to race. Was it Sakura? Or someone else? Had anyone heeded his warnings?

“Ugh, seriously, who else is here?” Junko groaned. “Hey sis, do something useful for once and make sure there’s no more interruptions, okay?”

“Yes, of course.” Mukuro replied, slowly heading down the hallway. Mondo’s eyes followed her as she headed back down the hallway, her knife drawn. Whoever was coming, Mondo needed to warn them! He took a deep breath, and-

Before a single word could escape his mouth, Junko slammed his previously discarded bat down upon his skull, and his world was enveloped in black.

* * *

 

It was dark. It was very, very dark, and all Mondo was aware of was the keen pounding in his head. It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

It hurt.

Was this… the end? Was it over? God, he couldn’t remember being in this much pain before. He wished he could do something to end the relentless pounding in his head, but he couldn’t move. He found himself paralyzed. Not that it mattered much. In this overwhelming darkness, he couldn’t even see or feel his own hand. Did it really exist anymore?

Slowly.

Slowly...

Excruciatingly slowly, the pain began to ebb out and Mondo was left feeling nothing. But… at least that was preferable to that horrible pain. He felt himself relax at the feeling of that sweet numbness. If he could move at all, he would’ve stretched his arms out and sighed, maybe even take a nap like he tended to do in his more boring classes.

He wondered, for a moment, if this is what it felt like to die. He supposed it could be much worse. Sure, it had hurt like hell initially, but now it wasn't so bad. 

He should look on the bright side. He’d be able to see Daiya again soon, right?

_Hey, Daiya…_

Daiya had given up his life to save him, and now Mondo couldn’t help but wonder… did he regret it? Had Mondo done enough in his lifetime to repay Daiya for his sacrifice?

_Did I do okay? Was givin’ up your life really worth it…?_

Mondo thought about the things he had done in life and realized he knew the answer. He… didn’t do anything worthwhile, had he? Even in the end when he had gone on this journey through time for Chihiro, he hadn’t achieved anything. Did he stop the apocalypse? Probably not. He still knew so few of the school’s secrets. Perhaps there were more people behind all of this than Junko and Mukuro. At this rate, the world would still come to an end. All of the people who had lost their lives… the Reserve Course students, his classmates… Chihiro… their deaths would come just as they had initially. And sure, he had stopped Ishimaru’s death but… that was only for now. Should the apocalypse start, who’s to say he won’t just die later in possibly an even crueler fashion?

_Daiya, I’m so sorry… You shouldn’t have saved me that day! I didn’t do a damn thing to deserve it!_

All the memories of the people he had let down were rushing through his mind in an instant, his gang, his classmates, his brother, Chihiro…

_Ishimaru…_

God, he had ruined his life, hadn’t he? Essentially forcing him to leave his family without considering any other place for him to go. Taking everything he knew and turning it upside without telling him _why_. And despite it all, Ishimaru still cared about him so deeply. What was a guy like that doing being friends with someone like him?

_Why?_

_Why?_

_Why?_

Soon, he found himself thinking back on Junko’s words, about the despair his death would supposedly bring to Ishimaru. He knew her words were tainted; she had been saying that just to make him suffer in his very last moments. But he had no way of knowing whether or not she was speaking the truth. He had learned quite a bit about Ishimaru in these past four weeks, and he had learned that when Ishimaru cared about something, he cared passionately and deeply, often to an illogical extent. And though Mondo knew he didn’t deserve such kindness, he knew without a doubt that Ishimaru cared about him. What if his death were to do more to upset him? What if it broke him, what if he blamed himself for it, what if it took over his entire life, leaving him cold and untrusting?

What if he wound up alone? Junko had been right; at current time, Mondo really was his only good friend. Perhaps Chihiro, Sakura or Asahina saw him as an acquaintance at the moment, but that had only happened due to Mondo’s persistence. Objectively speaking, Ishimaru was alone right now. And Mondo had further isolated him by making him leave his family.

_God damn it, what have I done?_

He knew having Ishimaru leave an abusive home was not wrong, but he hadn’t come up with any back up plans. Where would he go once the semester ended? Ishimaru was still so shaken up by the ordeal right now; who would be there to support him, to listen to him, to just be there for him to make him smile and laugh when he so desperately needed it? Mondo thought he had prepared enough this time, he thought he had done enough this time, but there was still truly so much left up in the air. He had no way of knowing that Ishimaru wouldn’t be driven to something drastic. What if Junko was right and Mondo’s death only caused Ishimaru to die in a much crueler way?

The calmness Mondo had felt earlier had subsided quickly, replaced with the fear and panic at the realization that he didn’t want to die. He had been so resigned to the thought of dying for so long. Sure, he did what he could to survive, but if he died… well, that was that. It wasn’t like it would matter if he died. So many people who were so much better than him had already lost their lives. If he died, what did it matter? He should’ve died in that accident as a teenager anyways.

But now… now that it was here, he was terrified.

He couldn’t die! Not yet! Not when he had left so many things unfinished! He had been given a second chance and yet he had done so little with it! He didn’t stop Junko’s plans. He didn’t stop the building blocks that would lead to the deaths of so many! And Ishimaru… he hadn’t saved him. If he died like this there was no way to ensure that Ishimaru would live until the nineteenth and onwards.

_I don’t want to die._

If he could get his body to do anything at all, he was sure he would be crying.

_God damn it, I don’t want to die!_

He wished he could do something, anything to fight this. He was a natural born fighter so why was it now when it mattered most he couldn’t do a damn thing?!

_I can’t die! Not until I’m sure that he’s okay!_

_Please…_

_Please..!_

_Please!!!_

_Please let him be safe!_

Mondo could feel himself fading once more, and he was helpless to do anything to stop it. All he could do was beg; beg to whatever god, whatever deity, whatever hope was out there that what little he had done hadn’t been in vain. That he had been able to do something good for the people in his life with all the second chances he had been given. That Mondo Oowada’s life had not been just a prolonged waste of space.

_Kyoudai…_

And then, there was nothing. No fears, no thoughts, no memories.

Just nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to Dangan Ronpa IF, the only person who could beat Mukuro in a fight is Sakura, hence my persistence in Mondo contacting her. Also she's my second fave in the first DR right behind Ishimaru so I have to mention her, of course.


	7. Chapter 7

His body felt heavy, as if some unexplainable force of gravity was keeping him pinned down. He cracked his eyes open, only to groan and squint at the horribly bright light all around him. For a moment, his vision was blurry. In fact, all his senses were blurry. He felt heavy and detached; his voice wouldn’t come out no matter how hard he tried to speak, and even as his eyes adjusted to the light he couldn’t get rid of the fuzziness that seemed to border his vision.

He didn’t have much time to think about it, however, because soon enough there were people around him, saying things he couldn’t quite make out, writing things down, talking to one another, or maybe him, he wasn’t sure.

By the time he finally came to his senses, the room was empty save for him and a nurse. He still felt dazed and confused, but he could understand the world around him now. He was in a sterile, white hospital room. To his right were some beeping machines, some of which with tubes and wires that were connected to him, and to his left there was a small table with a single vase, filled with all sorts of flowers, some fresher than the others. He couldn’t really see more than his immediate surroundings, though. He may have awoken, but he still felt tremendously weak, and moving anything was a chore.

“How are you feeling?” The nurse finally asked him, smiling pleasantly.

“I-” He was amazed by how weak his voice sounded. It sounded hoarse and groggy, kind of like it did when he caught a cold. “I’m fine.”

“That’s good.” She said, approaching his bed. She gently placed her hand on his left arm, inspecting the IV stuck in it. She wrote something down on her clipboard, and then looked up at him once again, her pleasant smile unwavering. “I’m going to ask you a couple questions. Is that all right?”

“Sure.”

“Do you remember your name?”

“…Mondo.” He was embarrassed by just how long it took to recall the information; not that he would admit it, of course.

“And your last name?”

Mondo didn’t respond. He… he had two names? Why? Wasn’t one enough?

“If you don’t know the answer, that’s fine.”

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Now, do you remember how old you turned on your last birthday?”

Mondo thought for a moment. His memories were blurry, but for some reason, he felt as if it had been ages since he had last celebrated his birthday. Despite that, a distinct number stuck out in his mind.

“Twenty-six.”

“Ah…” The nurse’s smile wavered for a moment. “That’s a bit… off. A-anyways! Do you have any idea of where you are?”

“A hospital.”

“All right. One more question.” For this one, she placed her hand on his shoulder gently. ”What is the last thing you remember?”

“Uh…” He paused. What… what was the last thing he was doing? He could only remember bits and pieces of it. He remembered it being dark. He remembered hurting quite a bit, and that he was angry, but mostly scared. Why? What _was_ he doing? Well, she had asked what the last thing he _remembered_ was. Maybe there was a memory before that he could recall clearly?

“I remember… uh…” His thoughts were all blurry fragments, but he could remember his old dorm room. “I was in my old room… I think I was havin’ a sleepover with… with…” It was on the tip of his tongue. He remembered the sensation of it all. He had stayed up late talking with a friend, and the sight of them sleeping peacefully by his side had helped him relax, too. “I don’t remember who I was with.” He couldn’t quite remember the person’s face, but the memory did make him feel happier.

“I see.” She stood up once more and finished writing something down, before placing the clipboard on the foot of Mondo’s bed. “Oowada-san, you have suffered some severe head trauma and as a result have a case of retrograde amnesia.”

He perked up at the word, which she seemed to notice.

“Don’t worry, your memories will likely return in time.”

Mondo just gaped at her for a moment. Amnesia? Head trauma? What the hell… What the hell had happened to him? For a moment, a memory flashed in his mind: he remembered flashing blue and red lights, the sound of tires screeching against pavement, the feeling of warm blood on his hands…

“W-what happened to me?” Mondo asked. “Was I in an accident?”

“No. You were assaulted by your classmates: Mukuro Ikusaba and Junko Enoshima. You were stabbed a couple times, then you were struck once with a baseball bat.”

“Holy shit…” Those two names… he couldn’t quite put a face to them yet, but the names alone left a sour taste in his mouth.

“You’re a very lucky man, Oowada-san. Thankfully, your classmate, Sakura Oogami and one of the school’s security guards, Juzo Sakakura, found you and managed to get you out of there.”

Mondo only recognized the first name, though he couldn’t put a face to it either.

“What happened to Enoshima and Ikusaba?”

“I’m not sure. I heard that they were separated and expelled.” She shook her head. “It was for the best, though. Those two had killed at least five guards that night. Like I said, you’re very, very lucky. We were starting to worry you would never wake up.”

“Wake up?” Mondo repeated. “How… how long have I been out?”

“Well…” She looked hesitant for a moment, so he glared at her. “It was just a little under four years.”

“Four…” Mondo could feel himself shaking a little. He wanted to doubt her, but based on her solemn expression, he could tell she was telling the truth. Now he understood why his body felt so heavy and it was near impossible to move. He’d been sleeping for four years! “Are you serious?!”

“I’m sorry, we didn’t want to overwhelm you just after waking up! But please, do not worry! With some time in physical therapy, I have no doubt that you will make a full and swift recovery! So, in the meantime, please try to rest and focus on recovering.”

“Fine.” He sighed. It didn’t seem like he had much of a choice.

“Oh, that reminds me! Now that you’re awake, is there someone you’d like us to call? Any friends or relatives? Having someone to support you can do wonders on the recovery process.”

“Yeah, uh…” Mondo paused. Who… who would he have her call? His first thought was a relative, and Daiya immediately popped into his mind. But of course, once he remembered the name, he also remembered visiting his grave many times. He didn't want to think about that. Well, who else did he have? Mondo hesitated, trying to think of a name, but all he could recall were vague, fleeting memories of friends and peers, none of whom he could quite place. However, there was one name that stuck out to him, the first word he had on his mind when he had woken up, and a name that, for whatever reason, made him think of the friend he had warmly shared a bed with in that pleasant memory.

“Kyoudai.” He finally said.

“Kyoudai?” She repeated, quizzically. “I’m sorry, is that a nickname? You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

“I can’t. I don’t… I don’t remember his actual name…”

“Well… that’s all right. You have had many visitors over the years. I’m sure at least one of them left their contact information.” She smiled, her eyes gazing at the vase of flowers by his bed. “This one young man comes by at least once a week, you know. Always brings flowers with him, too. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you’re awake.”

Mondo had no idea who could possibly be that happy to see him, but he smiled nonetheless. However, he still had one concern…

“One more thing?”

“Yes, Oowada-san?”

“Can… can ya open the window?”

“Of course.” She pulled the curtains aside, filling the room with the natural, bright light from outside. From what Mondo could tell, it was winter, and though there was snow on the ground, it was still rather bright out. “Is that better?”

“Yeah, it is.” He would never say it out loud but for some reason he had been so sure that the sky would be red.

* * *

 

Two days after he woke up, he had gotten his first visitor. Well, his first three, to be specific. There was an incredibly muscular young woman with long white hair, whose arms were so thick that they had ripped holes in her sweater. Beside her was another fit young woman wearing a sports jacket with the Olympics symbol embroidered on the sleeve. And in between the two was petite person with long chestnut hair. At the sight of him, this person started tearing up, and while all three of these people were familiar, Mondo immediately had a name pop in his mind for this person in particular.

“Chihiro!” He exclaimed.

“M-Mondo!!” Chihiro replied, rushing over to him and hugging him as best as they could considering he was in a hospital bed. Mondo weakly reached up to hug them in return, patting their back gently.

Chihiro pulled away and when he caught a glimpse of their face, for a moment a memory flashed in the back of his mind. He could clearly see Chihiro, far more pale and emaciated than they were now, slumped over, a knife stuck firmly in their abdomen.

“Mondo?” Chihiro asked, seeming to notice the way he had tensed up. “Are you all right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah! I’m fine.” Mondo replied, trying to get that thought out of his mind. Surely, his mind was just playing tricks on him. Chihiro stood before him, alive and well, so clearly that hadn’t happened. “I’m just really happy to see ya!”

“M-me too!” Chihiro whimpered, wiping their eyes on their sleeves. “W-when I got the call, I was so shocked, I… I…!”

“They couldn’t stop crying.” The girl in the Olympic coat said.

“Aoi!” Chihiro said, smacking her gently on the sleeve.

“What? It’s true!”

“You don’t have to say it like that!”

“Oowada-kun.” The muscular woman said, quickly quieting the other two. Despite her intimidating presence, she smiled at him. “Welcome back.”

“Y-yeah, thanks.”

The four of them conversed for a while, in which Mondo learned the two girls names: Aoi Asahina and Sakura Oogami, two classmates of his. A lot had happened to them in the past four years. All of them had graduated from Hope’s Peak Academy, of course. And, as the school promised, their futures were met only with success and hope. Asahina, as made evident from her coat, had participated in the Olympics a year ago, and was already training for the next games.

“I wanna add one more medal to my collection.” She had said, a wide grin on her face. “Just one looks so lonely!”

Chihiro had been accepted into a prestigious university that focused on the sciences. Chihiro had an interest in becoming an inventor, and was hard at work at school to achieve those goals. That, and they were also putting time aside to work out on their own, in an attempt to strengthen their body, as well. They were still petite but Mondo could tell that they had grown a few inches, and they even seemed a bit more confident in their abilities.

“After you get discharged,” Chihiro asked, “would you like to work out with me sometime? It gets a little lonely on my own.”

“Sure, Chihiro. I’d love to.”

Sakura, who had remained quiet for the most part while the other two talked away, finally asked for a moment to speak with Mondo, alone. Thankfully, Chihiro and Asahina didn’t seem to mind so much, and took it as a chance to get some snacks. It had just occurred to Asahina that being in a coma meant Mondo hadn’t had a donut in four years, and she decided that needed fixing. Once they left the room, Sakura finally spoke.

“I’m glad you’re all right, Oowada-kun.” She said.

“Right, thanks.” He recognized her now and knew her name, but he still remembered very little about her. Had the two of them really been that good of friends? Or was it something else? He did recall the nurse saying that she had been the one to save him. Perhaps she knew more about it?

So she told him. She had received a letter that day, claiming that innocent lives would be lost unless she came to the basement of the Reserve Course building around midnight. She reported it to the school faculty who told her that it was likely just a prank. However, someone had overheard her. One of the security guards, Juzo Sakakura, approached her, saying he’d help her out. He had been stationed at Hope’s Peak to be a guard, yes, but there was an ulterior reason as to why. He had been asked to keep an eye out for anything suspicious; he had reason to believe that something was going on at Hope’s Peak; something horrible. And Sakura’s “prank letter” seemed worrisome enough. So, the two of them headed into the basement that night, completely unprepared for what they would find.

A narrow hallway, lined with corpses, and at the end of it all, two high school girls, covered in blood. Junko and Mukuro hadn’t hesitated, immediately aiming to kill both Juzo and Sakura. However, they hadn’t succeeded. While Mukuro was incredibly powerful, she didn’t stand a chance against both the Super High School Level Martial Artist and the former Super High School Level Boxer. The two were able to apprehend the sisters until authorities arrived. Sakura didn't seem to know much of what became of them. Apparently, they had big plans to cause mass destruction and chaos. It was clear to anyone that Junko was the brains behind the ordeal while Mukuro was the brawn. If they were separated, neither could complete the plans. Whether they were still incarcerated or something else, Sakura didn't know. All she knew was that they had been separated and neither had been heard from in years.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was over yet. Sakura and Juzo wouldn’t be kept quiet, and Hope’s Peak had no choice but to acknowledge what was really being guarded down there: a Reserve Course student that had been experimented on to the point where he was just a shell of his former self, but was capable of any talent imaginable.

Once word got out that Hope’s Peak was using the Reserve Course funds for human experimentation, there was public outrage. The Reserve Course was soon shut down, and the pride and prestige of Hope’s Peak took a huge blow. Everyone behind the Kamukura project was persecuted, and a great many of the faculty at Hope’s Peak were fired.

However, things slowly started to change for the better. Despite everything, Hope’s Peak didn’t shut down. The main course was kept open, and things continued mostly like they had before. Juzo’s fiancé, Kyosuke Munakata, was chosen to be the new headmaster at Hope’s Peak Academy, and was seemingly already changing it for the better. It would take many years for Hope’s Peak to gain the respect it had lost, but the students coming out of it were achieving many amazing things just as before, so hopefully, in time, things would return to normal.

Along with that, Izuru Kamukura… or, technically, Hajime Hinata, was placed in class 77 with the main course students his age. And though his brain had been tampered with horrifically, he was slowly showing signs of the person he was before the experimentation had begun. And from what Sakura had heard, the class had treated him like a best friend.

Yes, it seemed like all the mysteries surrounding that incident nearly four years ago had been solved. All… except for one.

“There is still one thing that was never resolved, even after all these years.” Sakura said. “And that’s you, Oowada-kun.”

“Me? What about me?”

“You were down there that night, too. But by the time we had gotten to you, you were already unconscious. In fact, we had worried that you were dead. The only question left was what you were doing down there.”

“Eh, I dunno.” Mondo shrugged. “I was probably just fuckin’ around, maybe having a smoke or something.”

“Well…” She looked hesitant. “That’s not possible.”

“Why not? I mean, I’ve done some pretty dumb shit in my life, so-”

“You intended to go there, Oowada-kun. The bat Enoshima-san had used to strike you down you had brought yourself. Along with that…” She pulled an envelope out of her bag, and handed it to him. “We had the handwriting analyzed, and the message I received that night was written by you.”

Mondo scanned the letter. It was unsigned, and crumpled from age, but sure enough he could recognize his own shitty handwriting anywhere.

“What the hell…?”

“Even Enoshima-san claimed that she had no idea as to why you were there, either. I guess I was curious if you knew.”

“Why? Do ya suspect me of something?!”

“I don’t. Why else would you try and get my help? Munakata-san thinks you’re a bit suspicious, though.”

“Aw, c’mon! No way someone like me would… uh…” He looked at her curiously. “What exactly was Junko doing down there anyways?”

“We’re not entirely sure ourselves.” Sakura replied. “All she said was that she wanted to cause despair. What exactly that entails, I’m not sure.”

Despair.

For some reason the word sent a horrible shiver down his spine as memories just a bit too fuzzy for him to recall flashed in his mind. All he knew is that the memories were horribly unpleasant, and made him feel sick to his stomach.

“Oowada-kun, are you all right?” Sakura asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. “You look a little pale.”

“I’m…” Fine. The word was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Why had that word caused such a reaction from him? Despair… that word came with an indescribable feeling of fear, of anger. And fleeting images passed through his mind, ones of violence and death and sorrow. Where… had he seen this? What was he remembering? He hadn’t caused this, had he? He knew he was an idiot, and one who was often prone to violence. But these horrific images… was that his work? What _was_ he doing down there that night? “Sakura, can I ask ya something? Just… what kind of person was I?”

“Hmm…” Sakura sat back in her seat with a sigh. “I’m not sure if I’m the best person to ask. We really weren’t that close back in school. But… I think you were a good person. I don’t know how you knew about what Enoshima-san was up to, but I assume you only had good intentions when you wrote me this letter. Besides, I will never forget what you did for...”

She trailed off when Asahina and Chihiro returned to the room, with far too many boxes of donuts in hand and the subject was dropped momentarily. The four of them ate the donuts and chatted pleasantly, his three former classmates filling him in on what he had missed over the past four years. While he still felt rather in the dark, some of their dialogue sparked memories in him, and he began to feel like himself again, even if it was ever so slightly. However, despite the jovial atmosphere of the room, he couldn’t shake the foreboding sense that he had forgotten something important. And while the donuts were delicious, he could still feel that nagging pit in his stomach that something very, very bad had happened to him… or maybe by him? He didn’t know, and it was eating at him.

Soon enough, visiting hours ended and his three former classmates took their leave, but with the promise of visiting again soon. Before they left, however, Chihiro spoke up.

“I’m sorry, Mondo, I forgot to mention something!” Chihiro exclaimed. “Once I got the news, I immediately called Taka! He said he’d come here as soon as he possibly could!”

“Honestly, why’d he have to go to a school so far away?” Asahina mused.

“Well, it’s a very good school. He got a full ride scholarship there, too.”

“Still! It makes visiting Mondo all the time kind of a hassle for him, don’t you think? I’d choose some place closer.”

“He sounded very excited to see you, though!” Chihiro continued. “He was so surprised, I’m pretty sure I heard him drop the phone!”

“Man, I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees you. I bet he’ll cry for an hour straight!” Asahina teased.

“Don’t make fun of him like that! I cried pretty hard when I heard the news, too!”

The three of them finally headed out, with Mondo waving them goodbye from his spot on the bed. He didn’t ask because he didn’t want to cause more of a commotion, but…

Who were they talking about?

* * *

 

The next day, Mondo found himself growing bored quite quickly. After being in a coma for four years, it would take quite some time and a good amount of physical therapy before he’d be able to leave, and he was bored to tears in his room, idly flipping through an uninteresting magazine. There was nothing good on T.V. at the moment and it’s not like he had any interesting books to read or any video games to play. He sighed; why was it he could remember which video games were his favorite when he couldn’t even remember how he wound up here?

_“Mondo!!”_

The booming voice immediately pulled Mondo from his thoughts. He looked up where, by the door to his room, he found a young man who was panting heavily. Clearly, he had come here in a hurry. He was dressed in winter attire; a trench coat and a thick sweater but, curiously enough, he wasn’t wearing a scarf. He had short, jet-black hair and stared at Mondo with wide red eyes. Mondo also noticed that he had a split in his left eyebrow.

“Mondo, I… I…” At Mondo’s lack of response he hesitated, before finally smiling nervously at him. “Ah… right. I was informed that some of your memories are a bit faulty. I would not be surprised if you’ve forgotten me. Um…” He stepped further into the room, took a deep breath and bowed. “Hello! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! And we were friends!”

There was really no need for him to say that. After all, Mondo had recognized him the moment he laid eyes on him. This was Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the kid he had become unlikely friends with. No… friends was an understatement. They were inseparable; they were kyoudais! He was the kid Mondo had laughed with, merely hours after hating his guts. He was the kid whose past had caused Mondo to tear up. He was…

He was the kid Mondo had discovered was being mistreated. The kid who had suffered alone for so many years, insisting it was fine. He remembered the bruises on his neck, the scar on his forehead… and he remembered the way he had held him tight as he cried into his shoulder, shaken, scared, but free at last. This was the kid he had shared a bed with that night, the one warm memory he could recall in his jumbled mess of a mind. It was that faint, fleeting memory of this kid, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, sleeping soundly beside him, safe and warm by his side, which had brought the first bit of joy after waking up from four years of nothing.

And it was this kid that stood before him now. No longer a kid, but a young man, who was here right now, alive and as real as day.

“M-Mondo, what’s the matter?” Ishimaru asked all of a sudden. “Does something hurt? Should I call a nurse?”

Mondo just shook his head. He didn’t know when it had started, but he was crying. For whatever reason, the sight of Ishimaru standing before him, grown up and alive, stirred something deep within him, and he just couldn’t stop the tears from coming out. Some nagging thought in the back of his mind had thought him to be dead. But he wasn’t. He was here, he was real, he was alive and, if the clear skin of his neck was any indication, he was safe.

For Mondo, it felt like looking upon him at this very moment was nothing short of a miracle.

“Are you sure? Do you need me to get you something?” Ishimaru fretted, walking towards the bed until he was at Mondo’s side. “I can-”

Mondo still felt weak but, mustering all the strength he could, he pulled Ishimaru into a tight embrace, holding him close as he sobbed into his chest.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…!” Mondo mumbled, squeezing him tighter.

“Ah…” He felt Ishimaru hug him back, running his hand through his hair gently. He said nothing for a moment, but based on the shaking of his body, Mondo could guess he was crying, too. There was so much Mondo wanted to say to him, and ask of him, but for now… he was happy with the silence, with holding him in his arms just like he did four years ago. Ishimaru was warm, he was familiar, and just being able to hear his heartbeat - knowing that he was safe and alive at this very moment - was enough to make his own heart burst.

“Th-that’s so like you, Mondo.” Ishimaru said, finally pulling away from him. “To worry about my well-being when you’re the one who almost… almost…!” He let out another choked sob and brought his hands to his face and cried into them instead. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be overwhelming you like this.”

“Overwhelm me?” Mondo just laughed. “Three days ago I was told I’ve been in a coma for four years. It’s gonna take a lot more than this to overwhelm me.”

“But you’re crying!”

“Don’t worry about that! Besides,” Mondo said, grabbing one of Ishimaru’s arms and pulling it off his face, “when I woke up, the first memory I could recall was of you. I guess I’m just really happy to see ya, Kyoudai.”

Ishimaru didn’t say anything for a moment. Instead, he began to laugh.

“What is it?”

“It’s just…” he sniffled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, “I haven’t heard that nickname in such a long time. I can’t believe you remembered it!”

“Of course I did. We’re soul brothers, aren’t we?”

Mondo held out his hand, curling it into a fist. Ishimaru smiled at the familiar, nostalgic gesture, and bumped Mondo’s fist with his own.

“Of course!”

* * *

 

From that day onwards, Ishimaru visited him every single day, showing up the moment visitor’s hours began and staying as late as he possibly could. Mondo soon discovered that Ishimaru was the boy that his nurse had mentioned brought flowers with him nearly every time he visited, seeing how a lot of the nurses seemed to recognize him and, on his second visit, Ishimaru brought a whole bouquet of flowers for him.

“They’re yarrows.” Ishimaru said, replacing the old flowers in the vase. “Maizono-chan informed me that they represent good health!”

“Maizono?” Mondo asked. He paused for a moment, trying to recall that person. That was one of his classmates… he remembered a peppy, friendly girl, and blue hair. “She’s, uh… the singer, right?”

“Idol, but close enough.” Ishimaru replied.

“Right, idol. You’re friends with her?”

“Yes. She was very friendly to me after… uh…” His smile faltered for a moment. “She’s very nice! I haven’t seen her in quite some time, though. After I started university…”

Ishimaru soon began talking about school, effectively changing the subject before Mondo could get a word in. He was curious, but he supposed he’d let him talk for now.

Though he’d never admit it, Mondo was worried that Ishimaru was actively ditching class for his sake, but no. Apparently, school had just let out for winter break, and Ishimaru was glad to spend all his time with Mondo. And Mondo didn’t get tired of him, either. After all, they had four years of lost time to make up for. Ishimaru told him all about his classmates, all of whom seemed to be doing well despite the drama that had befallen Hope’s Peak. Some of the names Mondo recognized pretty quickly, others he did not. However with some he felt that same pang of nervousness he did with Ishimaru and Chihiro: he felt as if he had a keen memory of them dying. Of course, that had to be impossible. Ishimaru wouldn’t lie to him about something like that. However, that didn’t change the nervous feeling in his gut. Why did he have so many unpleasant, false memories?

He tried not to dwell on the occasional disturbing memories that would flash through his mind and instead focused on hanging out with Ishimaru. Spending time with him helped him calm down, anyways. Turns out re-learning how to walk after not using his legs for four years was difficult and frustrating as hell, but Ishimaru was there for him every time he stumbled, and he was there for him with each shaky step he took.

One day, nearly two weeks after waking up, Ishimaru and Mondo went for a walk together. Sort of. Relearning how to do everything was going to take some time, but he was healthy enough to go outside in a wheelchair, at least. Which was good; Mondo was sick being cooped up inside all day. And he’d take being stuck in a chair over being stuck in that room for another day. He hated how weak he still felt, and it was frustrating just how long it was taking to relearn something he had known how to do since he was a toddler, but he’d live. He was alive, and that’s what counted. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. Whatever, at least having Ishimaru push him around was comforting. He took in a deep breath. It was still cold outside, but the frigid, crisp air was refreshing after four years of being in the same room.

“Are you sure it’s not too cold out, kyoudai?” Ishimaru asked.

“Nah.” Mondo replied. For some reason, he felt as if he had been outside for far longer in far colder temperature. Regardless, he would scream if he was in that room any longer. “Let’s go already.”

They weren’t allowed to leave hospital grounds, but the hospital had a nice courtyard in the back with trees and some patches of land for flowers. There was even a fountain, but it was turned off and whatever water in it was frozen over at the moment. However, Mondo wouldn’t consider it an ugly sight. It wasn’t snowing currently, but the entire area was covered in a thick layer of beautiful snow, untouched saved for the small tracks likely left by squirrels and birds. Mondo remembered disliking snow before. He didn’t care for the cold, and snow was annoying as hell when it covered his bike and made the roads difficult to drive on. But it was pretty to look at, especially now more than ever. The sky was clear and the ground covered and white, which was a beautiful contrast to what he kept imagining would be outside. It didn’t matter how many times he gazed out the window; he was always so sure that the sky would be red.

“Do you remember how we became friends, Mondo?” Ishimaru asked. Mondo shut his eyes and thought really hard about it. He remembered bits and pieces of memories with Ishimaru. He remembered it being snowy. He remembered arguing, snow being thrown… by him, mostly. No, only by him. Probably. He also remembered Ishimaru sitting on a bench, blood on his face… god, that couldn’t be related, could it?

“A snowball fight?” Mondo asked.

“Something like that.” Ishimaru replied. “We were shoveling snow together. You grew irritated and tossed a shovelful on me.”

“That’s how we became friends?” Mondo asked, skeptically.

“Well, sort of. After that, Kuwata-kun locked us in the storage shed. We talked for awhile and… well, that’s when I learned just how kind you were.”

“Really?” Mondo still wasn’t convinced. “I threw snow on you?”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal. It just got a little cold, and you immediately gave me your coat. It may have started off… strange, but I still look back on it fondly.”

He could tell just by the sound of his voice that Ishimaru was smiling, but Mondo still couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Why had he remembered Ishimaru out in the cold, with blood on his face? Was that memory related to their initial friendship? Was that memory even real? If he had hurt him, Ishimaru wouldn’t lie about it, would he? Mondo was beginning to grow distressed. He had so many memories of people being hurt and killed, of violence and destruction that were indescribable. Yet no one seemed to know about them. Or maybe they were hiding it from him? If so, why? And there was still the matter of him being in the basement that fateful night. Before he had been assaulted, what had he been doing? Could he really be just as wicked as Enoshima herself?

“Oy, kyoudai…” Mondo began, nervously fiddling with the hem of the blanket on his lap. “I’ve been meaning to ask ya something.”

“Yes?”

“What kind of person was I?”

“What do you mean?”

“My memory’s still fucked up. I keep remembering things that… I dunno, they don’t seem good. And I’m not even sure if they’re real or not. I guess I just want to know for sure.” Ishimaru was silent, and seemingly perplexed, to which Mondo raised his hands up defensively. “I-If I was a total asshole, you can totally tell me. I won’t be upset or anything!”

Ishimaru just laughed.

“You weren’t an-” Ishimaru hesitated, “I-I mean, you weren’t a bad person. I initially feared you were, due to your… talent. But that wasn’t the case. You were very kind. When I told you about what happened to my grandfather, you actually cried a little! I’ve never gotten that response before. In fact, I had never really had a friend before. Yet you were so eager to spend time with me from then on. I was... I was very happy.” Despite his words, Ishimaru sounded a bit solemn near the end there. He cleared his throat and continued. “B-but then you found out about my… er, secret. I had never had anyone find out before. I never knew what would happen if someone did. I was told that I’d be in trouble, that no one would believe me. In fact, I’m not sure I believed that what I was going through was bad, either. …But you believed in me. And you showed me more sympathy and kindness than I had ever expected- or received- from anyone.” Ishimaru stopped pushing him, walking around to stand before him. “You convinced me to leave home. Of course, my father wasn’t very happy about that… the scar on my eyebrow is evidence enough. But you patched me up and you even made me smile on one of the worst days of my life. After you were... a-attacked, I was a little lost for awhile. I felt so guilty for living normally every day when such a horrible thing had happened to you. A few of our classmates reached out to me and I realized... that was your doing as well, wasn't it? You cared about me when no one else did. And you were able to get others to care about me, too. How selfish would I be to give up when you had done so much to help me?” He smiled at him, placing his gloved hand on top of Mondo’s. “You were… no, you _are_ one of the nicest people I have ever had the fortune to encounter. You saved me. And I will never, in my life, forget what you have done for me.”

Mondo’s eyes drifted from Ishimaru’s smiling face to his gloved hand resting gently on top of his. The sight their hands together brought him back to four years ago, to that fateful day when Ishimaru had proudly placed his hand against his, confident of the gift he had given him.

Yes… yes, now he remembered. He had initially remembered the vague details; he remembered being worried about Ishimaru, he remembered being by his side and trying hard to help him… but now he truly remembered _why_. Once he had found out about Ishimaru’s situation, he had been so determined to help him out. And, apparently, he had done just that.

He had saved him.

Mondo had never felt like a hero. Nothing he had done in his life had been of any help, and he knew it, too. He was just some punk, some kid too reckless and dumb to really do anything worthwhile. But he had saved someone? He, the worthless delinquent, had actually saved someone? This must be the reason why he was so happy to see Ishimaru just a few days ago. For once in his life, he had actually done something good, and Ishimaru’s gentle smile and his hand upon his was proof of it.

“If you don’t believe me, I’m sure Chihiro-chan would be more than willing to…” Ishimaru’s voice trailed off as Mondo flipped his hand over so he could properly grab Ishimaru’s.

“I believe you.” Mondo finally said, giving Ishimaru’s hand a gentle squeeze.

He trusted Ishimaru. While there were still some things about him he couldn’t recall, there was one thing he knew for sure: Ishimaru wasn’t a liar. And he would certainly never lie about something like this.

“Thanks for tellin’ me.” Mondo finally said. Everything truly was over. Junko and Mukuro didn’t get away with whatever they were planning to do. The mysteries that plagued Hope’s Peak Academy had been solved. Chihiro was alive, as was the rest of class 78. And Ishimaru… he was safe, he was alive, and from what Mondo could tell, he was happy, too. So case closed, right?

Mondo leaned back in his chair, and took a deep breath of the cold winter air. Yes, everything was solved, wasn’t it?

So why was he still so sure the sky would be red when he looked upon it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on the comments I got for the last chapter, pretty much all of you thought I was gonna make things worse. Plot twist: I care about ishimaru far too much to give him another unhappy ending.
> 
> Also I'll be real I don't like the localization nickname of "Taka" for Ishimaru. Like it just seems really ooc for Ishimaru to demand that people call him that? That's why I avoided saying it for the most part (especially since I was in dr hell long before the localization, so me and most other english fans at the time just nicknamed him 'Ishi' or 'Kiyo'.) I decided to have Chihiro call him that just to add to Mondo's confusion near the beginning there tbh.


	8. Chapter 8

Mondo’s memories came back in bits and pieces.

Nearly a month after waking up, it suddenly occurred to him that his last name was Oowada. Sure, he had been aware of this fact for a while. Most everyone aside from Ishimaru referred to him as such and he had grown accustomed to responding to it. But it was only now that Mondo registered that the name was his own.

He remembered all sorts of things in time. As he met with his old friends more often, he began to remember who they are and memories he had with them. Ishimaru brought in a yearbook one day, and simply glancing at his old classmate’s faces helped him remember. He was good friends with a few of them like Chihiro, most everyone he was cordial enough with, then there were a few people he actively disliked like Togami.

Then there was Leon Kuwata, who somehow fell into all of those categories.

“What happened to him?” Mondo asked, pointing at Leon in the picture.

“Kuwata-kun? Ah, right! I remember you being friends with him!” Ishimaru replied. “Hmm… if I remember correctly, he became a musician after he graduated with the help of Maizono-chan and an upperclassman, Mioda-san. I think he’s abroad right now, though. Why?”

Mondo just gazed at Leon’s face for a moment. He remembered a lot of good things about the kid, like ditching class and starting snowball fights and playing video games late into the night with him. But some memories pissed him off. He remembered Leon locking Ishimaru in the shed with him, and even more upsetting, he remembered Leon ripping off Ishimaru’s scarf, unwittingly revealing his secret. But, he supposed he wasn’t all that bad. He remembered Leon seeming truly remorseful and apologizing for the action after Ishimaru had… had… Mondo couldn’t quite recall the situation that lead up to his apology.

“He was a good guy, I think.” Mondo finally said. “I’m still pissed about what he did to ya, though.”

“To me?”

“Yeah! Rippin’ your scarf off like that, remember?”

“What are you talking about?” Ishimaru asked, looking genuinely confused. “Kuwata-kun never did that.”

“What? Of course he did! He thought ya had a girlfriend or something, then when he saw the bruises…” He trailed off when he noticed Ishimaru looking away, anxiously fiddling with the collar of his sweater. This, too, was familiar, he remembered Ishimaru doing the same thing with his scarf once Mondo had confronted him about his home life.

“Mondo, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ishimaru said. “Kuwata-kun never found out about what happened to me.”

Mondo knew that to be wrong. That memory had to be correct; it had come so naturally to him! But… Ishimaru wasn’t one to lie, even when he felt nervous. So could he really be mistaken?

“…Right, sorry.” Mondo finally replied. “Guess my mind’s still a bit jumbled up.” He still felt confused, but he wasn’t going to push any further. Clearly, making Ishimaru recount memories of his abuse was best saved for when he brought it up himself. He must’ve made that memory up… or something.

After he was finally discharged, Mondo decided to formally denounce himself as leader of the Crazy Diamonds. It was bittersweet, sure, but he didn’t see much of another option. He had barely learned how to walk again; he wouldn’t be riding a bike anytime soon. Besides, after being scouted by someplace like Hope’s Peak, he always figured he’d wind up quitting the gang a year or two after he graduated. That, and Mondo felt as if it had been ages since he had hung out with his old gang members. After being down and out so long, it felt foreign to be in their presence again, and he couldn’t really see himself keeping it up. He felt a little guilty but… he didn’t regret the decision. Even after being in the hospital for so long, his gang greeted him joyously, and they had all stayed together during all that time. He had been so worried that they’d disperse seeing how their leader was too weak to stop two teenaged girls from attacking him. But much to his surprise, the opposite had happened. They were proud of him; claiming that Mondo was the one who discovered their big plans, ultimately keeping the school safe. Mondo could at least take solace knowing that he had kept Daiya’s promise; sure, maybe he wasn’t around for it, but the gang had stayed together and thrived even after Daiya’s passing. Hopefully, that made him proud.

“Oy, Yukimaru.” Mondo said, pulling his old friend to the side. “I’m leavin’ the gang with you, got it?”

“Are you sure?” He replied, looking a little solemn.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m in no shape to lead a gang. Probably won’t be for a while. I’d just be holdin’ you guys back, y’know?”

“I understand.” He said with a sigh. “You’ve been a great leader. And… we won’t forget you!”

Mondo couldn’t help but smile at his old friend’s enthusiasm, and he reached out and ruffled his hair.

“I know, I know.” He laughed. “I couldn’t have been that great of a leader though. Hell, I wasn’t even around for, what? Ten years?”

For a split second, Yukimaru looked surprised, but that look was soon replaced with hesitancy.

“It was only four… but still! It was like you were there the whole time!”

Mondo was confused by his words, but didn’t question it. At this point, he had grown quite accustomed to this reaction to his comments. Ever since he had told the nurse his age- _twenty-six_ \- he had rattled off all sorts of false information to his old friends and peers. He knew he was wrong; he knew he had to be wrong. He was twenty right now, it had been four years since the attack and all of his classmates were twenty as well. But he still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something he was missing from all this. There had to be a reason he remembered being twenty-six when there was no way he could be, there had to be a reason why he remembered seeing the sky as red and the deaths of so many people. He remembered these as clearly as he remembered his last name was Oowada. So why… why did he have these memories? Was it really just a side affect to his injuries, or was he really missing something?

As the days wore on, he tried not to think about it. The past- whether true or false- didn’t matter anymore. Not when he had a sunny future to look forward to.

He decided to take Ishimaru’s advice and work to become a vet. He knew it’d be a difficult path, but… he had survived blunt force trauma to the head. What was a couple of textbook-heavy courses? Besides, he spent his whole life doing things for himself, running around with a gang, breaking things… it’d be nice to save things, for a change. He wound up at a small college that wasn’t nearly as prestigious as Ishimaru’s, but hey, for someone who didn’t think he’d ever go to college, it was something. That, and it was close to Ishimaru’s school, so he really couldn’t complain.

The two of them soon moved into a small apartment together, and Mondo couldn’t be happier. He remembered that much of his life was spent alone in an empty apartment; perhaps that was why he was always out when he was younger? Regardless, it was nice to have Ishimaru there to keep him company, even if he was adamant about getting chores done on a daily basis.

Living with Ishimaru made him realize something: though they had been close before his assault, the two of them had only been friends for about two weeks. Funny, Mondo couldn’t remember ever being so immediately drawn to someone in such a short time, but he supposed it could happen. At least now he could learn more about the person he had already grown to care about so deeply.

It seemed that after all he had gone through, Ishimaru had fared pretty well over the past four years. Once the first year at Hope’s Peak began to come to a close, Ishimaru found himself growing nervous. He had run away from home, sure, but that was really only part one of the plan that he and Mondo had come up with… Now what? He had no idea where he was going to stay during breaks, and even less of a clue as to what he would do when he finally graduated. He tried to keep his problems to himself, but anyone could tell that something was on his mind. Finally, he confided in Chihiro, who offered him a place to stay.

“I’ve been staying with the Fujisakis ever since.” Ishimaru said. “I’m very indebted to them. They’ve been very kind to me. Chihiro’s father even told me I could refer to him as father if I wanted to… but I was never able to do so.”

“Why not?” Mondo asked.

“It was difficult to see him as such.” Ishimaru explained. “Aside from not being my actual father, he was just too nice to me.”

Ishimaru had gotten much better over the past four years, but there was still a lot he needed to unlearn. He had become much more laid back, but there were still some things he tended to freak out about, especially when it came to mistakes and imperfection. Mondo recalled from high school that Ishimaru tended to overact to simple mistakes; apologizing profusely, demanding someone to hit him so he could learn better… He hadn’t thought about it much when he was in high school, but now that he knew _why_ he did it, it made Mondo’s heart ache. Especially since he still kept some of those behaviors. Whenever Ishimaru would make a mistake, no matter how small it was, he’d panic.

He had asked Mondo to hit him a couple times already. And every time he did this, Mondo would reach out to him –slowly, of course, as to prove he meant no harm- and he’d hug him. It seemed Ishimaru’s rules against affection only applied in public, so he’d accept it, and Mondo would hold him until he calmed down.

He could never hurt Ishimaru. He could never even dream of it. And the fact that Ishimaru seemed so resigned to the idea of getting hurt, the fact that he not only accepted but also expected it as punishment for doing literally anything wrong was heartbreaking. Ishimaru was getting better, but he still had a whole childhood to recover from. And if Mondo could help him recover, even a little, then he’d be satisfied.

It was the least he could do, after all.

Ishimaru was such a kind, wonderful person. He stayed by Mondo’s side for years while he was unconscious, even when he had far more and far worse things to worry about. And once he woke up, he was patient and supportive all the way through. He never once treated Mondo any differently. He was still just as loud and friendly as he was when they first determined they were soul brothers. He appreciated that kindness…

And he appreciated it all the more when his worst memories returned to him.

A few months after being discharged, Mondo suddenly remembered how Daiya died. He had been watching an action movie by himself after school, waiting up as he usually did for Ishimaru to come back. The movie had been entertaining enough. A less-than-stellar plot, lots of explosions and chase sequences… it had made for good white noise while he worked on homework, at least. However, he looked up during a chase scene, in which the main character expertly stopped one of the bad guys on a motorcycle from apprehending him by knocking him with his own car, causing the bike to spin out and crash in a fiery explosion by the side of the road.

And just like that, he had remembered.

He had been aware that his brother was dead since he had woken up, but to remember how it was done was much worse than he could’ve anticipated. He remembered the honking of a semi truck, his brother’s shout as he hastily rammed into him with his own bike, the sound of screeching wheels and a horrible, ear splitting crash.

He remembered holding Daiya in his arms as he died. He remembered the sickly warm sensation of his own brother’s blood staining his hands. Mondo wanted to scream. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to curl up and die. He wanted to forget it all, but he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried to pretend these memories were fake or worse than they seemed, he knew them to be the truth.

When Ishimaru found him he was curled up on the couch, still staring at his hands as if his brother’s blood was still on them.

In a way, it still was.

“Kyoudai?” Ishimaru asked, rushing towards him. Mondo didn’t respond, which only caused him to worry even more. “Is something wrong? Do you feel sick? Mondo-”

It was only when Ishimaru’s hand made contact with Mondo’s shoulder that he responded.

“I killed him.” Mondo finally said.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“My brother. I… I killed him.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Ishimaru asked. Mondo could tell from his voice alone that he was a bit startled, but he kept his expression determined nonetheless. He joined Mondo on the couch, easing him up into a sitting position. “Talk to me.”

So he did. He told Ishimaru about everything; his jealousy of his brother, his fear that he’d never be good enough to match him, the stupid competition Mondo had come up with… All of it. Ishimaru said nothing as he talked which Mondo could only hope was a sign to keep talking. As he talked, it suddenly occurred to him that he has never told this story… this horrible, dark secret of his… to anybody. He knew why, of course. Who in the world would still think positively of him after a story like that? He was pathetic, through and through, and his brother’s death would always be his doing.

By the time he had finished his story, he had started to tear up a little bit. He turned away, completely unwilling to look at Ishimaru right now. He was sure Ishimaru would be disappointed in him. In fact, he might even hate him now. To learn that his best friend- his _kyoudai_ \- was nothing more than a pathetic killer… yes, there was no way he’d be able to look at him fondly after this. Not that Mondo deserved anything better.

“Mondo…” He felt a hand rest on back. He still didn’t turn around. “Hey…” Ishimaru reached out and grabbed Mondo’s arm gently, coaxing him to turn around. He did, but he couldn’t meet his gaze. “You didn’t kill your brother. What happened to him was… h-horrible. But it was an accident; nothing more.”

Mondo just shook his head.

“Don’t do that. Mondo, will you look at me?” Mondo finally complied, and noticed Ishimaru was crying. Of course he was; Ishimaru was passionate, and everything he felt he felt deeply. Still, Mondo never thought anyone, even Ishimaru, would cry over his story. It was nothing but cruel and pathetic, wasn’t it? “It wasn’t your fault. You know that, don’t you?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Mondo finally whispered. “I… it was all my idea… it-”

“Shh…” Ishimaru cupped Mondo’s face in his hands, idly wiping the tears away with his thumbs. “It wasn’t your fault. You could not have known something like that was going to happen. Maybe you were a little rash, but it was all in good fun and competition. You didn’t want anything bad to happen to your brother. Just like I’m sure he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you, either. You didn’t kill him. I’m sure he was happy to save you.”

“W-why would he be happy to save someone as… as fuckin’ worthless as me?”

“Because he loved you, of course!” Ishimaru exclaimed. “And you are not worthless. You’re far from it! You kept your gang together like you had promised. You had stopped Enoshima-san from doing whatever she had planned on doing. And if it weren’t for you, I…” He idly traced the split in his eyebrow with his finger. “Well, you know. You are not worthless and you did not kill your brother. In fact, I’m sure your brother would be quite proud of the man you’ve become.”

Mondo didn’t say anything else. With a whimper he just leaned forward, letting his head rest on Ishimaru’s shoulder. Ishimaru let him, choosing to let his hands rest on Mondo’s back instead. He didn’t say anything else. Perhaps he knew he didn’t need to. Mondo wasn’t sure if he believed his words quite yet. But just hearing those words was more than he ever had expected from anyone. He had hated himself for a very long time over this. And he still did; that wasn’t going to change over night. But the fact that there was even a single person who could forgive him for what he had done, who truly believed that he was not at fault… It was more than he could’ve asked for or believed he ever deserved.

It was at that moment, while he was weeping against Ishimaru’s shoulder, that he realized he was in love with him.

He had felt it for a while. From the moment he had woken up, there was something about Ishimaru that he was instinctually drawn to. And as time passed, he grew to like him more and more. Ishimaru was so kind and so passionate; Mondo wasn’t sure if he had ever met someone as caring as him. And it seemed that no matter what, he never let anything get him down. He was as positive as he was passionate; every day was a new opportunity, every opportunity a step towards greatness. Mondo admired the greatness that Ishimaru so obviously seemed to have, though he’d deny it out of sheer modesty, of course. Yes, Mondo admired him greatly, and it wasn’t long before that admiration turned to adoration as well. He found himself missing Ishimaru more when they were apart, smiling more when they were together, and by the end of every conversation, his hand would usually wind up on Ishimaru’s shoulder. It didn’t take long for Mondo to daydream about holding Ishimaru’s hand while they sat together on the couch, or kissing him while they were talking to one another, or even spending the rest of his life by his side. He loved him, and he had for a while now, he realized. After all, from the moment he laid eyes on him, the desire to protect him at all costs had immediately popped into his mind, and that desire had never left him even for a single moment.

Maybe one day he’d tell him. Maybe he’d never tell him. Either way, he was happy to be here by the side of someone so wonderful.

* * *

 

One morning, almost a year after being released from the hospital, Mondo woke up with a strangled gasp, horrified at the dream he had just had.

No, not dream. _Memory._ This was an event he had lived through. The way he felt right now- shaken, confused, and utterly terrified- it was the same way he had felt when he had remembered Daiya’s death. This had to be true.

Which just made it all the more horrible.

He had dreamt of a world plagued with despair- one where the sky was an ever-constant red, where the streets were filled with violence and destruction. The world had ended, all for the sake of despair. So many innocent people had lost their lives, yet somehow a useless lug like him had managed to survive. For ten years, in fact.

Ten years, Mondo thought. Ten years from his first year at Hope’s Peak would make him twenty-six. Ten years was the exact time he had told Yukimaru he had been gone. And twenty-six was the age he had so believed he was when he had first awoken. This couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

In the dream, he had visited Chihiro, only to find they had been murdered. It was horrible. Chihiro had clearly been suffering, with the knife firmly stuck in their abdomen, yet with their final breath, they begged not for Mondo to save their life, but instead asked him to go back in time and stop the world from ending, with the help of…

It suddenly struck him. Mondo rolled over in bed, clumsily opening the drawer in the bedside table beside him. After fumbling around for a little while in the darkness, he finally found it: a little pink watch with a bunny in the center. He had gotten it from the nurse when he had been discharged from the hospital along with his other things. He hadn’t recognized it; he never wore a watch, even if he did he’d never get one that looked like that, and based on the spaces available, it told the date rather than the time. Besides that it was broken, and overall fundamentally useless. Yet for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to throw it out. Now he knew why he was so attached to the strange thing. Because this… this was how he…

He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing, simply trying to connect his still scattered thoughts. This… this had to be why he had memories of high school that no one else seemed to recall, like Leon ripping off Ishimaru’s scarf, then later apologizing for the action after Ishimaru had…

The watch slipped out of his hand, falling to the ground with a clatter.

Now he remembered. Now the missing piece to the puzzle that seemed to plague him ever since he had awoken had finally clicked into place. The reason why he somehow knew about Junko’s plans despite not really knowing her, the true reason why he had been in the basement of the Reserve Course on that fateful night… it was all clear to him now.

It was all because Ishimaru had originally died on that snowy night all those years ago.

No, not just once, Mondo realized with horror. That was what he had remembered. On his first attempt, Ishimaru had died again. The only difference had been his friendship with Mondo. The more he thought about it, the more horrifying the memory became. Originally, Mondo had never found out how Ishimaru died. Now, he knew. Ishimaru had suffered through the same thing he had except… he hadn’t been as lucky. Mondo grimaced and squinted at his right arm in the darkness. Though it had healed, the scars that Mukuro had left on his body had never truly faded. He had no doubt that after Ishimaru had discovered the sisters down there he had tried to apprehend them, only to be killed horribly. Mondo was sure he had likely been stabbed, slowly bleeding out with no one around to hear him.

Ishimaru had suffered such a horrible fate, hadn’t he? Forcing himself to have a positive, optimistic outlook when he was being mistreated at home and ignored by his peers… only to die alone and be forgotten by a world that seemed to hate him. Everyone had forgotten him. Mondo knew he had. After all, who could spare a thought for the annoying, dead hall monitor when the world was ending? It was nothing short of cruel for someone so good to be treated so badly.

“Mondo…?”

The quiet voice pulled Mondo from his thoughts. Ishimaru had strolled over to his bed, clearly having just woken up.

“Mmmm…” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Despite his grogginess, he looked concerned. “Did you have a nightmare?”

This wasn’t the first time this had happened. Their apartment was small; they shared a bedroom, their beds only across the room from one another. There had been many a night when Mondo had dreamt about something horrible - people dying in riots, Chihiro being stabbed – and would wake up, horrified and gasping, until Ishimaru came over. Sometimes he’d coax Mondo out of bed, and the two of them would get a snack or watch T.V. together until he calmed down. Other times, Ishimaru would crawl in bed with him; sometimes they’d talk, sometimes they wouldn’t, but Ishimaru lying with him was comforting regardless. Mondo was a little embarrassed by it at first, but Ishimaru didn’t seem to mind at all. After all, he explained, Mondo had done the same for him back when they were in high school, and it had put his worries at ease, at least for the night. It worked, and he would find himself growing sleepy again soon enough. Besides, it was hard to think of the horrors he had just seen when the man he loved was by his side.

However, regardless of whether they got up in the morning or stayed in bed, Ishimaru would always say the same thing: _“It was just a nightmare.”_

That was usually comforting. But now he knew the truth… and he knew that to be wrong.

It had all really happened. All the death, all the despair… it was real. He had seen all those people lose their lives. He had seen the world fall into chaos. He had seen Chihiro get murdered. And he really had been there when Ishimaru had died. Twice.

“Mondo?” Ishimaru asked again, sounding more awake now. He sat beside Mondo, then placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

Mondo wanted to dismiss him, to apologize for waking him up and tell him to go back to bed, but he just couldn’t do so. Now that he remembered what had happened to Ishimaru, he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Ishimaru… it was his death that had tied everything together. And that just made it all the more miraculous that he was sitting beside him right now, alive and well. Fate had wanted Ishimaru forgotten. And twice, fate had succeeded. But Mondo had been able to put a stop to that. Thank god, he thought. After all, he couldn’t imagine a bleaker world than one without Ishimaru’s sunny presence.

Mondo reached out and pulled Ishimaru down into an embrace. Ishimaru was warm and Mondo held him tight, as if letting him go would bring him back to that horrible time when he had perished.

“I love you.” Mondo whimpered. “You’re so important, y’know that? I… I’d never forget you. Never again, I swear!”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I love you.” Mondo repeated. “I love you so much…”

“What’s gotten into you, kyoudai?”

Mondo didn’t know how to reply to that. It’s not like he had a nightmare. He had just remembered something. But he doubted anyone would believe him if he told them, even Ishimaru. That, and he was too exhausted to explain himself.

“Nightmare.” He finally muttered.

“I-I see. Do you want to talk about it?"

"You... I had a dream that the world ended. That... people started killing each other for no reason. And you... you were the first to... to die." Even if he was pretending this was a nightmare, recounting the memories wasn't any less painful. "And the worst part is... everyone forgot about you. Even I did. Kiyo, I'm so sorry- I promise I'll never...!"

"Shh..." Ishimaru whispered, gently stroking Mondo's hair. "It's all right. That didn't happen. I'm fine, I'm here right now... and even if I wasn't, I know you would never forget about me."

If anything, Ishimaru's words just upset him further. Ishimaru had died. Mondo had forgotten him. All of this had happened. That cruel fate had been reality once. 

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure if I'm helping..." Ishimaru muttered, seeming to notice how much more upset that had made him. “Does… does holding me like this make you feel better?”

Mondo nodded.

“All right.” He felt Ishimaru relax in his arms a bit more. “Try to get some rest, kyoudai. I'll be right here the whole time.”

“I won’t let anything hurt ya ever again, I promise!”

“I don’t doubt that. Now go to sleep.”

There was a pause for while, where Mondo held Ishimaru close to him in silence and tried to get back to sleep. It worked, a little. He was already exhausted and having Ishimaru with him helped him calm down substantially.

“I love you.” He whispered again. Ishimaru didn’t reply; he had really sounded exhausted and must have already fallen asleep. It took awhile for Mondo to actually fall asleep himself; he was still shaken at what he had remembered, but the sound of Ishimaru’s soft breathing and the rhythm of his heartbeat were gentle reminders that he was, in fact, alive. He was here right now. He had succeeded. Kiyotaka Ishimaru was not killed on that horrible winter night all those years ago, and the proof was nestled in his arms. Those reminders were eventually enough to lull him to sleep. 

The next morning, when he woke up, the sun was already high in the sky and his bed was empty. There was no alarm blaring, nor did he hear Ishimaru’s booming voice telling him to wake up. That was unusual. Usually Ishimaru was all about organization and schedules and he included Mondo in them.

Mondo sat up groggily and noticed a piece of paper lying against the alarm clock. It read:

_Mondo,_

_You didn’t seem to get much sleep last night, and I know you don’t have many plans for today, so I turned off your alarm. I hope you don’t mind!_

_-Kiyotaka_

Mondo smiled at the note. Really, Ishimaru could be so sweet. But he had kept him waiting long enough. Mondo got out of bed, and was on his way out the door when his foot bumped against something hard on the floor. He knelt down and picked it up: the watch. He felt his stomach drop as he gazed upon it. What he remembered last night really had been real, hadn’t it?

There was once a world where the sky was red, where blood and violence soaked the streets, where despair reigned supreme, where most all of Mondo’s classmates had perished… where Ishimaru had died, alone and forgotten on that bitter, cold winter night.

Mondo squeezed the watch in his fist and, with a shaky breath, finally put it back in the drawer beside his bed. While the memories he had recalled were nothing short of horrible, the fact of the matter remained that it was all over now. All of those horrible events were in the past; no, not just that, they were _erased_. And no one in the world would even recall them as real except for him. It was better this way. The past was in the past and if everyone could go on living happy lives, never knowing it had happened, it’d be for the best. He could deal with knowing all of this alone.

Mondo found Ishimaru on the couch, reading something on his laptop intently. The moment he heard Mondo walk in he shut it.

“Kyoudai!” He exclaimed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” Mondo replied.

“Well I’m glad you slept well!” Mondo joined him on the couch and, as usual, put his arm around him, letting his hand rest on his shoulder. Ishimaru did not return the gesture. In fact, he tensed up at the contact.

“Somethin’ wrong?”

“N-no!” Ishimaru stammered, his voice a bit louder than usual. Mondo couldn’t help but notice his face was a bit flushed, too.

“You’re not catching a cold are ya?”

“No! I’m all right! I just…!” Ishimaru hesitated, looking unusually nervous for once. “Do you… um, remember anything that happened last night?”

“Yeah.” Mondo replied bitterly. That was the opposite of what he was trying to do. Now that he remembered the truth he wanted to forget it as soon as he could. It was a miracle he had even been able to fall back asleep after he had remembered all that. If it weren’t for Ishimaru sleeping in his arms, he’d…

Oh.

Right.

He had told Ishimaru he loved him.

“Shit.”

“Mondo?”

“Holy shit, did I really say that out loud?!”

“Yes.”

“Shit.” Mondo could feel his face growing hot as embarrassment washed over him. “Shit, I’m sorry kyoudai, I, uh-”

“Don’t apologize, Mondo.” Ishimaru replied. “I just needed to clarify one thing: did you mean that?”

Ishimaru stared at him intently, and Mondo couldn’t help but grow nervous. He knew Ishimaru well; if he lied, Ishimaru would probably believe him. But… he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. Mondo had tried to confess to various crushes more times than he could count, and all of which had ended in rejection. Mostly because he was a nervous wreck and would raise his voice, scaring them away. Perhaps now was his chance to finally do it correctly. Besides, the secret was already out. And Mondo couldn’t think of anyone he had ever loved as much as Ishimaru.

“Y-yeah. It’s true.” Mondo finally said. “I’ve, uh, I’ve liked ya for awhile, and… you’re just so fuckin’ great, y’know that?” He took a deep breath, trying his hardest to keep his voice down. “I-I mean… You’re so positive. All the time, no matter what happens to ya. You’re so strong. You’ve been through more shit than anyone I know; yet you still hold your head high, and you never give up, either. I guess… I guess that’s something I really admire. And… and you’re really fuckin’ nice, too! I… Remember what I told ya about my brother? Well… I’ve never told that story to anyone before. I was so sure you’d hate me for it. But… you didn’t. I guess I never thought I’d meet someone so understanding. And… ”

“M-mondo, that’s quite enough!” Ishimaru finally interrupted. Mondo noticed Ishimaru’s face had become quite red again, and though he was looking away he could see tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“Shit, I’m sorry!” Mondo exclaimed. “Did I upset ya?! I didn’t mean to-”

“You’re fine, kyoudai!” Ishimaru interrupted again, hastily wiping his eyes. “It’s just that… no one has ever said such kind things to me before!”

“Oh. Well…” He awkwardly reached his hand out and gently patted Ishimaru’s back. “You’re welcome…?”

There was silence for a moment. But for Mondo it felt like an eternity in which he could only hear the heavy pounding of his heart.

“Uh…” Mondo finally said. “Well, w-what do ya say?”

"To what?"

"I love you. I mean it. And I was wondering.... y'know, if you..." 

“Oh, Mondo...” Ishimaru reached forward and cupped Mondo's face in his hands before pressing a soft, chaste kiss to his lips. It was quick, and when he pulled away, he was looking up at Mondo with a beautiful smile. “Do you even need to ask?”

“W-what?” It took a moment for Mondo to process what had just happened. Ishimaru.... Kiyotaka Ishimaru, of all people, had just kissed him! And not only that... he loved him back? Mondo felt like his heart might just burst from joy. “Y-you mean it?!”

“Of course I do.”

“For real?! You’re serious right now?!” Mondo shouted.

“I always am.”

“Holy shit! Holy shit I- …I mean…” He paused for a second, trying to keep himself from shouting. "This is really happening, isn't it? Holy shit..." Before he could say anything else, Ishimaru abruptly stood up, and held his hand out to him.

“Let’s get going, Mondo!” He exclaimed.

“Uh… why?” Mondo replied, completely caught off guard. “Also, where are we going?”

“To the café, of course!” He said it so matter-of-factly, for a moment Mondo felt like he might be in the wrong for being confused.

“Why?”

“Well, this morning, I’ve been researching popular date locations. Because that’s what people do when they are… in a relationship, correct?”

Mondo couldn’t help but notice the way Ishimaru blushed and averted his gaze at that last part. It was cute. Or… it would be, until he found himself blushing at the thought, too. A relationship… now that he thought about it, he had never been in one, had he? At least if he did, he didn’t remember it. But somehow he doubted it. He was always too much of a mess to do so, shouting at crushes out of nervousness and scaring them away, plus when the world ended, who had time for a relationship? Well… better late then never.

“Y-yeah.” He took his hand and joined him. “Sounds good.”

They headed out together and honestly, Mondo was shocked by how easily conversation came. He shouldn’t have been that surprised; he and Ishimaru had been close in high school and had spent nearly everyday together since he had woken up. Still, he was thankful; he was worried the thought of them being in a relationship would be too much and put a strain on their conversation. However, Ishimaru’s hand kept brushing against his as they walked, and Mondo wasn’t sure if he should grab it or not. They were in public, yes, but most of Ishimaru’s rules against affection applied solely to school and official buildings. Lots of couples held hands. Would it be weird to hold his hand? Was it going too fast? What if Ishimaru got mad? He finally just shoved his hands in his pockets and ignored it. He’d let Ishimaru initiate it if it came to it. Still, he couldn’t believe that Ishimaru actually loved him back. He knew that Ishimaru cared deeply about him… but Mondo never would’ve guessed that someone as good as Ishimaru could love someone as useless as himself. Truly, it was a miracle.

“Mondo!” Ishimaru exclaimed, stopping abruptly.

“What?”

“Look!” He pointed upwards. “It’s snowing!”

Mondo looked up where, indeed, it was. Not a lot, yet. Fall was just fading into winter, so there were just light flurries for now.

“So?” Mondo asked.

“Aren’t you cold? You didn’t even bring a coat!”

“I’m fine.” Ishimaru ignored him and took off his scarf, then proceeded to wrap it around Mondo’s neck. Mondo couldn’t help but worry for a second that he’d see bruises on his neck as he did so. There was nothing, of course. That was in the past. 

“Hmm… that should help.” Ishimaru mumbled.

“Well, can we go now?”

“What about your hands? You left your gloves at home!”

“It’s not that cold out.” Despite Mondo’s assertion, Ishimaru still didn’t look satisfied.

“Well, it’s a bit too late to go back… oh! I know!” He took off one of his gloves and handed it to Mondo. “You can wear one!”

“Well what about…” Mondo trailed off when Ishimaru grabbed ahold of his ungloved hand with his own.

“There! Now neither of us will be cold!” Ishimaru exclaimed. Mondo said nothing and just stared at him, his face growing hot.

“L-let’s just go.” Mondo insisted. Ishimaru just nodded and the two started walking again. As they walked, Mondo’s embarrassment began to wear off, especially as he gazed at Ishimaru walking happily beside him. Despite the initial shyness and the flush still on his cheeks, he looked eager - excited, even - as they headed towards their date. Of course he was excited, why wouldn’t he be? Ishimaru was an optimist; he always found ways to make even the most boring of things exciting.

Mondo smiled, squeezing Ishimaru’s hand gently. Maybe it wasn’t a miracle that Ishimaru loved him back. Maybe for once he could allow himself to be cocky and accept that someone truly did love him. After all, he had done some good, and Ishimaru’s warm hand in his was proof of it. Yes, that was the true miracle, wasn’t it? Ishimaru being here, alive and happy… it was a miracle.

In another time, Ishimaru had died and Mondo hadn’t cared. Mondo had completely forgotten about him and moved on with his life, doing little to help anyone aside from himself. He thought he had been okay with that. He thought he could live in a despair-induced world, spending each day focusing solely on survival. But Chihiro had changed his mind… he’d have to truly thank them one day. They didn’t deserve what had happened to them, and Mondo was still sure that they would’ve been able to do a better job than he had. He could at least take solace knowing that Chihiro was alive and happy now, too. Perhaps one day Mondo would be able to return the favor for all they had done.

In another time, Ishimaru had died again, and it had torn Mondo apart. He had tried reaching out to Ishimaru initially out of necessity- only to find out just how wonderful he was. Mondo never realized that the annoying hall monitor had such a kind, gentle soul. He never would have guessed that the strict persona, the obsession with rules- it all came from an unwavering determination to achieve his dreams. That… and his mistreatment at home. He had lived a life filled with rules and discipline; there was no room for compassion and love, despite having so much of it himself. Knowing that had made his death all the more worse as he had died again, alone and forgotten.

But this time… this time was different.

This time, Ishimaru was alive. Not only was he alive, but he was thriving; he was free of the abuse he had suffered in the past, he had friends and found family who all cared about him, and he was on the path to those dreams he had worked so hard on for so long. It was the future he had so deserved, and Mondo was so happy to see him living it each and every day.

It hadn’t been an easy journey; Mondo had made many mistakes along the way. The scars on his body from that fateful night, his absence for four years, and the split in Ishimaru’s forehead were all proof of it. Perhaps there was a way things could’ve been better. Maybe he could’ve helped Ishimaru and stopped Junko and Mukuro without anyone getting hurt. Maybe there was a way he could’ve done all of this in one try, without letting Ishimaru die again. He was sure he could’ve done a better job… and maybe if he couldn’t, there were loads of people who deserved the opportunity before he did.

But… it was useless to dwell on what had gone wrong, he supposed. That was in the past, and what lay before him – and more importantly, Ishimaru – was the future. A happy one, he hoped, where he would be able to spend every day by Ishimaru’s side. Fate had wanted him dead; and Mondo had accepted it once. Now he swore he was going to cherish him, to make up for all that lost time Ishimaru had been forgotten.

“Kiyotaka?” Mondo finally asked.

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

There was a pause for a moment, where Ishimaru just gazed at him with a cute blush on his cheeks. But that bashful expression was soon replaced by that beautiful smile Mondo knew he’d never cease to be amazed by.

“I love you too, Mondo.”

At twenty-six… wait, he was twenty-one again, wasn’t he? At twenty-one years old, Mondo had finally done something with his life. And the wonderful boy… no, the wonderful young man standing by his side, alive and holding his hand tightly, was proof enough that things could always be changed for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....Aaaaand it's over. I hope the ending wasn't too cheesy, I've never been super good at coming up with convincing happy endings but I believe cheesy is good after what I put them through.
> 
> I'd like to thank everyone who liked this story and commented on it. Honestly, with how dead the dr fandom has been as of late, I was surprised by just how many people cared about this story. It was really nice considering I spent nearly four months writing it! Thank you everyone, and I hoped you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Also I'd like to apologize for how... scarce my presence has been as of late. I used to write like one ishimondo one shot a month. But alas I've gotten into other fandoms that have been taking up more of my time. I'll be honest, I came up with the idea for this story while watching dr3 due to my disappointment at how little they showed or even mentioned the dr1 kids. So what i'm saying is that while i still love dr, it might be awhile until I write another dr fic, unless something else inspires me to do so. (Hey, with ndrv3 coming out you never know...) This has been a ton of fun though, and again thank you to everyone who supported this story and left me comments and all that jazz. It really means a lot!!!!
> 
> Til next time, I guess :0 !


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